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Copyrighted 1919 
Leslie R. Barlow 



LETTERS 

TO THE 

BRIDGEPORT COMFORT CLUB 

FROM 

THE FOREIGN CHAPTER 
IN FRANCE 




WniTTEN BY 

Sergeant Leslie R. Barlow, I 02nd Ambulance Company 

26th Division 

American Expeditionary Forces 

France 1917-1918 






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FIRST LETTER 

July 18th, 1918 
Dear Mothers: — 

Now that we have our Foreign Chapter of our Comfort 
Club, may we just review a few of the more interesting things 
that have taken place since we were promenading down Main 
Street and saw those catchy signs in the window about "Free 
Trips to Berlin", etc., and advising us to sign up with the First 
Connecticut Ambulance Company. So being fired with 
patriotism and yearning for adventure, also thinking that our 
best girls would like us all the more if we could write them a 
line from Berlin, we hike up to the Armory and sign up with 
"The Uncle Sam and Lieut. John T. Powers Company, Inc." 
We stood trembling while beaucoup doctors glared at our 
bodies like Al Goulden does at a fellow when he stalls his 
motor on the corner of Main and Fairfield. 

Well, then we drilled two or three nights a week at the 
Armory on squads east, squads west, right upper berth, pre- 
pare to load and all that important? stuff. Sergeants were 
drilling us as they read it from the book, some of us had uni- 
forms and some didn't, those that did automatically becoming 
fixtures about town. 

Then someone said that we were to get a dollar for each 
regular drill night, but I guess we are like Heinie, we have 
something coming to us, but anyway we don't need it as our 
Mas just sent us one hundred real American dollars. 

Next our orders came that we should report at the Armory, 
ready to move at a minute's notice. Well, we were there, suit 
cases, hand bags, and all, every one excited, but we had a 
chance to cool off for we did not leave for three days, then 
down to dear old Niantic we go, more squads east and squads 
west, hung around a month or two, each day trying to follow 
Lieut. Sprague or Lieut. Nagle out in the country for a few 
miles with packs on our backs and saying it was a tough war. 

And to think we had a big shower bath, a canteen and 
Social Center that was a Red Cross and Salvation Hut all in 
one, but we didn't know it then. The folks used to come up to 



see us and bring homemade Cake and Pie. Oh boy, we realize 
now 'twas sure a tough war, not even a mosquito bite say noth- 
ing of cooties. 

Then the order came that we must be inoculated, vacci- 
nated, sterilized and re-exannined about steen times, till it 
seemed as if there's only a few of us left. Now we are the 
Third Connecticut Ambulance Company, all equipped and 
dressed up just like real soldiers, and off we go to the station, 
where the Misses Bond and a few more of the ladies of the 
town bade us a farewell, for we were off for "Somewhere in 
France." 

Above lines are where parades, bands and over the top 
stuff now in style, did not come in. Clickety clack went that 
old train for a day and a night and we bunched up like sardines 
we thought, but they hadn't pulled any of that 8 chevaux 
40 homme stuff on us then. Then aboard ship and out the 
river we go, under the world's greatest bridge, all just getting 
our first lesson of this w^ar and each one trying to make the 
other fellow think he had seen lots of water before, but in the 
same breath speaking of the front or back of the ship, or up- 
stairs and down cellar. Next stop was in the great back bay 
at Halifax, there we waited at anchor one whole week, all the 
time eating that slum that Dorsted Horned chef handed out to 
us. But we have all thanked God that we were not in that very 
same place a few weeks later when that awful explosion oc- 
curred. Now, as the rest of the convoy is here, we weigh 
anchor, point her nose into the briny deep; see, we are already 
learning the sailor stuff. And we went and we went and then 
went some more, and I want to say right now, that the guy that 
calls that thing which we crossed, a pond, why he don't know 
nothing that's all, Why we went east, we went south, even 
headed toward Greenland, why we zigzagged so much that we 
began to think the skipper was tanked up on his English tea, or 
that the compass had gone sour, and all the time that same 
camouflaged barber shop ship was circling around us till we 
were dizzy ourselves. You see 'twas our first real look at this 
camouflaged stuff, although of course, we ourselves, in civil 
life, have done a little of it in regard to pay we received cars 
we owned, etc. 

Well, we went on and on, always keeping a look out for 
subs, but we were not afraid, for up there on one of the gun 
crews were Pomeroy, Marsten and Leonard of our own gang. 

Then about the last two days, something aggravated that 
there ocean, and we pitched and we rolled, we dove in and 



climbed up those mountain high waves, rolled out of bunks, 
each one picking a fish to feed {some must have been whales). 
At night when trying to sleep, that old propeller would come 
out of the water and w^-o-a how^ it would spin, then as the ship 
went back in that abyss that propeller shaft would ripety rip 
slam bang into that thrust box, as though the barge were going 
into steen pieces and we all prayed as we never prayed before 
that 'twould hang together till we made our port and we could 
unlimber from those life belts. 

Well, to make a long story short "We made it." Then a 
short visit in the land, where, at our tent camp, we seemed to be 
chilled through from the fogs, but Old Glory and the Union 
Jack were flying from the same staff and it thrilled us. Besides 
we were seeing things we had not seen before, such as heather, 
holly and mistletoe. Then over we went to "Somewhere in 
France," now in a small craft that seemed to go so fast we 
were afraid she would burn her bottom, surely 'twould never 
give a barnacle a chance to grow. Now we are in France and 
up we go to a rest camp, and all I can say is "Beware of rest 
camps, (there ain't no such animal)." 

Next we get put on one of those French trains and 
travelled second class, you know doors on each side instead of 
the end, and a little dinkey engine, like the one they used to 
run up the Naugatuck Branch, when old Pop Stewart was a 
fireman. Away we go to our first camp in France, where we 
are billeted in American barracks in a little town. Here we 
stayed till February, all the time it seemed to rain every day, 
but we received our heavy field shoes after a while, and even 
later we got some boots. Here it was we fought some terrible 
battles (of words) trying to make the natives into Yanks, 
usually having the best results by showing a few francs. Oh 
yes, we had our shilling and tuppence pieces changed by the 
Y. M. C. A. man into francs and sous. Let me say here that 
until we left that camp, we enjoyed the finest Y. M. C. A. that 
we have ever seen in this land, and I understand the money to 
pay for it was raised in the town which our dear Brother Bill 
Cummings called home. 'Twas at this same little French town, 
nestled away by itself near the birth place of Joan of Arc, that 
we ate on Thanksgiving Day and also on Xmas, all the good 
things, that you dear people by Hooverizing, had made possi- 
ble for Uncle Sam to send us. 

And maybe that man Carter of ours and his gang of chow 
stevedores, can't turn out some feed, if he gets the wherewithal. 

Wished I dare tell you about the time Jim Morrell took 
ten minutes to buy a wash basin; after he made all kinds of 



motions, like splashing water, etc., you know, then the lady 
said in fine English, "Oh, you want a wash basin." 

Well, soon the order came that w^e must store our barrack 
bags, as we w^ere to go to the front and could only carry what 
is called equipment "A" and that is just what is on our backs. 
So just before Lincoln's birthday, off we go up to do our bit 
and we have been doing it ever since, from street soldiers we 
must now be field soldiers. 

But I must close this epistle now. This may all seem like 
ancient history, but stick around folks, for things were not al- 
ways as interesting for the Kaiser as they may be soon. 

DICK BARLOW. 
1 02nd, Ambulance Company. 



SECOND LETTER. 



July 30th, 1918, 
Somewhere in Fiance, 
Dear Mothers: — 

Guess I had better send in this second note of our me- 
dieval history before you can get time to tell me how sour the 
first one was. 

Now, before we leave our first little French village, that I 
spoke of, let me say that the personnel of our company has 
been changed greatly by transfers and detachments. Our com- 
pany has volunteered to a man to be used in the Trench Fever 
test, but as only a few are needed, away went Worley, W. 
Murphy, Lucas, Peck, Schaeffer, Noren, Watkins and Pill. 
Several others of our boys went to this same place, but as they 
have already been sent to other companies, we cannot count 
them. Among them were Connors, Vassel, Turner and Lam- 
bert. I mention this as it shows the spirit your boys have where- 
ever they go. Capt. Stevens, who was not only an officer but 
a father to us all as well, has parti, as have Lieut. Lawlor and 
his side kick, Hughey. 

Our old horse drawn ambulances, that we toted clear from 
the good old U. S. A., are gone and we are now motorized. 
Hurray ! 

We are now the 1 02nd Ambulance Company, Radikan, 
has written our famous motto. Made in Bridgeport, the best 
Ambulance Company, in the best Division, of the best army of 
the World. There is no such thing as can't in the 102nd Am- 
bulance Company. 

We have learned to put our gas masks on in steen seconds 



less than nothing. So we will load our ambulances on those 
big? freight cars and parti pour la trencha. 

Part of our boys must be litter bearers and the rest am- 
bulance drivers and orderlies, and right here is w^here they start 
to pull that 8 Chevaux 40 Homme stuff on us (you know^, one 
fellow tries to put a No. I 4 shoe in your port side ear and you 
put a knee in some fellow's tummie). 

Be sure and wear your steel stetsons when getting off the 
sleeping? car, as the station is often shelled. Well, off we get 

at the city of . Golly there were some big shell holes, 

we were a little nervous, but we didn't get shelled. Anyway 
we were all anxious to do our bit, as rumors were that men 
from our division were to be sent home to drill the new army 
and some had fell for it, especially non-coms, for surely they 
wouldn't have the heart to go home without having been to the 
front. Well, we hiked to our homes, all the way passing! 
trenches, barb wire, buildings marked "God Strafe England" 
fruit trees cut off short, unexploded shells, horses with gas 
masks, etc., etc. We were then billeted in the cellars of shell 
shattered houses, but soon our new Lieut, said, "Who will 
volunteer for litter bearers to go up at once?" Well, every- 
body lost that tired feeling and they nearly stampeded him, he 
finally yelled "Kamerad" for it looked as though they would 
trample him to death. In this sector we are to work with the 
French. Here we saw air duels, frogs drop from balloons in 
their parachutes and, well, I won't attempt to tell you what we 
saw, for everyone had different experiences and I am not going 
to steal any of the boys' thunder. Any of the fellows 
have seen more than I, and I still insist that if a man 
hasn't had the delirium tremens, he hasn't been nowhere and 
he hain't seen nothing. I can only say that every one of your 
brave lads will have great things to tell, so you better have 
Mother Wyrtzen, and the rest of those 'petite pomme de terre" 
store owners, order in a good supply of extra large saw dust 
boxes, for when this gang ever gets turned loose, well, it's just 
as Phillip Brodskey says "Ken you imagine eet?" 

Well, we did our bit up there, handling French, American 
and a few Hun patients, had a few real busy days with gassed 
men, scabbies, etc. These last we had to transport to the hospi- 
tal in our big trucks, where they were scrubbed till sore, then 
oiled and back to the lines in about three days. 

The Ambulance men had formed their Forty Thieves 
Society and had drawn a plan of a dugout to be made in Sea- 
Side Park, special pipes to the different soda fountains. We 
have often wondered what Heinie thought, when he captured 



that same little town and saw this drawing on the wall. Our 
gang thought we had our share of cooties anyway, so When the 
order came that we were to start to the rear and go on old style 
maneuvers and then to a rest camp we were happy. So just 
after St. Patrick's Day, we start to the rear, to an accompani- 
ment of special Boche music (they're good that way). 

Well, we landed in a beautiful farm, near where Napoleon 
received his early military education, everything was lovely, 
the birds sang, frogs peeped and even a little lake with swan 
circling around on it. Surely this is fine, guess the war must 
be over for us. When down the road comes one of those dis- 
patch riders going ala No. 6 to a fire down Barnum Ave., and 
presto change, maneuvers are off, so is the rest camp. Away 
they yank us Yanks in big trucks up to our second front, near 

• Arriving at 2 G. M. and raining hard, put out 

those cigarettes, etc. laws, we thought we were at the front. 
Well, then they hauled us ten or fifteen kilos further and we 
thought the driver must be on the wrong road and we would 
surely land in Berlin. But everything turned out alright as it 
usually does. We are now in the town where Mr. Lusk left us 
and came to speak to you. Billeted in barns and more friend 
cooties, I suppose. Yep, you win again. 

This is our own front, no French to bother us and We went 
to it. This was sure war. Part of our fellows in a big dressing 
station and the auto drivers and orderlies making Hell's Cor- 
ner and Prayer Bend steen times a day, with friend Heinie's ar- 
tillery paging them. When there was no scrapping at the front, 
why. we would start a fight of our own, to see who should have 
the Victrola, that the Graphophone people gave us. There was 
surely a gift far greater than they knew, for it has even toned 
down men who were severely shell shocked, I understand this 
treatment is used extensively by the English. Why we think 
so much of our Victrola We have put a service stripe on it and 
it will soon have another one. 

Well, here we are, nearly finished in this sector, new di- 
vision is relieving us, roads are jammed, all kinds of trucks, 
caissons, escort w^agons, ambulances, and ammunition trains, 
now and then a dead horse or mule or a truck off the road. 
Well, "C'est le guerre" and anyway we are happy, for we are 
going back for a long rest, even may parade on the Fourth in 
a great city here. Sure enough they took us out and onto the 
trains and off we go to the great city. It is July 3rd, and here 
we are just three miles from that great tower which we see in 
the distance. Well, that's funny, haven't any of our boys writ- 

8 



ten about our parade after coming from our second front? 
Well, by Golly, I will in my next. 

So I will now make a motion that you adjourn for the men 
folks will soon be home for their supper and you know how 
those men are; well, if they kick, blame it on 

DICK BARLOW. 
1 02nd Ambulance Company. 
Gosh, this is worse than the first one. Anyhow those boys 
had no business to pick on me to do their writing. 



THIRD LETTER 

August 4th, 1918. 
Hello Folks:— 

Have received no bombs in my mail to date so perhaps 
you will also pardon a third letter. 

Well, as I was saying, we were on the train, just outside 
the gay city, everybody happy, it is July 3rd, and sure enough, 
guess we are going to parade tomorrow alright. Engines are 
sneaking in and out in the great freight yards, all is activity as 
our train slows down and then finally comes to a halt to wait 
for an all clear light. The people here are waving at us and 
seem glad that we are here, and we wave back and say to our- 
selves, "Gee, they're not like those pro Germans up on the 
other front, for they didn't seem to want us there, and we knew 
someone was spying, so we eyed one another with suspicion, 
for they had lived so near the nation's boundary lines and had 
inter-married so much that it was hard to tell where their sym- 
pathies lay. 

Well, we were glad that we were welcome here, for a 
wave from one of those dear, sad-eyed women, usually dressed 
in black, meant a great deal to us way down deep in our hearts, 
for we knew that these people had long ago had this cruel war 
brought home to them in ways that we all hoped our dear loved 
ones at home would never have to feel. 

Well, we waited and waited for that signal, but we didn't 
mind it for we were near a mansion owned by a French officer, 
who spoke fine English and had open house for us. Others w^ere 
watching the double decker cars go by, ala the Mayor of Step- 
ney waiting on Read's corner for a Grasshopper. Wilcox, 
Northrup, Drury and Holzheimer were strutting around like 
pouter pigeons, so the people could see their Croix de Guerres. 
Well, hurry up, youse guys, she's pulling out. H — 1, (meaning 
Hindenburg Line) what do you know? They have put an 



engine on the other end and are pulling us out again. Well, if 
that wouldn't break the heart in those stone dogs on Park 
Avenue. What do you know about that for pure, unadulter- 
ated, triple expansion, high explosive, what I mean, nerve. 

Well, they yanked us Yanks clear out in the country for 
miles and drop us off at a little place half way between the gay 
city and the marines, with a large farm for a billet, but 'twas 
2 G. M. and no one knew which was t'other, so we were told 
same as the doughboys w^ere when they were surrounded by 
Huns, "Help yourselves, boys." Some won a horse barn, and 
I saw four in an oxcart outdoors, and even some officers slept 
in the gutter, all sprawled out, dead to the world, leaning up 
against their blanket roles, all tired out. 1 appeal to you, think 
of it dear people, your boys suffering like this. Bet you will 
come across alright now in the Fourth Liberty Loan after that. 
But we didn't mind it, we've seen a lot worse than that and 
may see more. Next day they hied us away up near the lines, 
where the Marines were making the Huns put on his brakes so 
suddenly, that they burned out a lot of brake lining and other 
things, mostly other things. So we had a swim in the big river, 
till the gendarmes stopped us, said that it was full of barb 
wire, dead horses and good Boche. 

Next day the Yankee boys went in the lines and soon 
Heinie had to throw her in reverse. Crump and Ferris they 
both wanted to transfer, soon as they saw those tanks, but when 
they found out they were like a motorcycle, no reverse, well, 
that was a horse of another color. 

We are all very good boys up here, where that Fairfield 
feller left us. Yep, went to church every day, had ter, the 
dressing station was in the church. 

Well, we cleaned up the town, of course that is under- 
stood, all burgs, farm yards, etc., that we stop at, out come the 
shovels and brooms. 

This little town will get its name into history of the great 
war, as being the Birthplace of the Foreign Chapter of the 
Bridgeport Comfort Club. 

We have never realized the seriousness of war so much 
as up here, for this land has been twice devastated by the 
enemy, and we are living in the homes that the people had to 
leave and flee for their lives. Why, there are even real honest - 
to-goodness beds, chairs, clocks and even the piano just as 
they had left, why we even had a cow for a while, till the na- 
tives started to come back. 

So now we must move up again for a few miles, as things 
are busy, and believe me, we worked as we never worked be- 

10 



fore; still they go back and we move up again, land right near 

well, that aforesaid feller used to wear his initials on 

his collar ornaments. Dead horses, Huns, cows, pigs, and oh 
boy, that stench, and very little water to drink and look out for 
that, as the enemy was in this town twenty-four hours ago, a 
plane down here, great German shells in their wicker work 
baskets, all along the road shell holes to suit anyone's taste, and 
a rifle stuck in the ground, bayonet down, with a few name 
cards, lodge receipts or a postal card stuck in the bolt to let 
the word know that some Mother's boy hac^ done his last hitch 
and done it well, gone West. No one must touch a shell or 
pull a wire, kick or pick up anything, for this is no postal card 
or souvenir war, and anyway she will love you just as much if 
you come home all in one piece. Over here is a Boche 2 1 in 
the gutter, next to where w^e must set up and go to it again. 
Everybody is busy, keep going as long as you can, line up 
ageiinst a wall, grab a few hours sleep and start again and still 
they come, but we know the other fellow was ten times as busy 
as we. Not a whimper out of one of them, it's only "Give me 
a cigarette, will you. Bud?" There they are, lying there on 
their litters, some meeting their pals as they come in and hap- 
pen to be placed near them, or say "Has So and So been 
through," or "poor Jack, he got it hard. " And look at those poor 
shell shock lads shake and quiver when a shell goes over, and 
those quivering lads duck needlessly and even cry. But good 
people, don't ever blame a lad with shell shock or think he was 
the least bit yellow, for no one was ever asked to go through 
what those poor devils were, it's a wonder they are not ail that 
way. Of all the men we handled in that last ten days of Hell 
raised to the nth power, most of them will live, as they had 
what we call G. S. W.'s. That is, Heinie couldn't get his ar- 
tillery set, so it was mostly machine gun and rifle wounds, all 
termed gun shot wounds. 

Well, w^e have done our bit here it seems, and back we 
go to the church town again. Gee ,this is fine, away back of 
the lines now, not a balloon in sight. We didn't breathe very 
easy for a few days, figuring that maybe they might send us in 
again, but now we have taken it as real. Nothing to do, just 
old time street soldier stuff, you know ala Niantic, reveille, drill 
call, fatigue gangs, taps and all that, "Ken you imagine eet?" 
Why we even have a bath and a new set of underwear, thanks 
to Lieut. Sprague and his steam cootie machine, even got a hair 
cut now, just like a human bein'. Don't tell, but when Joe Rich 
came to his turn at the bath, he found two cooties fighting over 
which should have the iron cross for doing the greatest duty 

11 



for his fellow country men, they had made a regular race track 
path on his back between the "sure kill 'em" cootie bag on his 
neck and the one on his hips. Why, they had raced so hard for 
the last few days that he snipped off their young lives just out 
of sympathy to keep them from starving to death. 

Und by Gollies, here's Dud Mills and Stan Glover back 
from the hospital. Hurray. 

Well, I guess this is a happy bunch of boys, for yesterday 
we had our division show, down back of the hospital. And say 
it is fine, not a sour act, most of the boys picked to be in it were 
actors when in civil life, and each one is doing his best, as they 
may get a chance to tour the good old U. S. A. One fellow 
sang "Just A Baby's Prayer at Twilight Hour", and all your 
boys have been whistling it ever since, and as I watch those big 
husky khaki clad, seemingly war hardened boys of yours lov- 
ing those two cute, curly haired, French youngsters, down near 
our kitchen, I know that under those trench mirrors beats a 
heart as large as an ox and a soul that yearns for those at home. 
But I must not write sob stuff. 

Duck! oh never mind, it's alright, 'twas only Pomeroy im- 
itating a 210 coming over, anyway there ain't no shells away 
back here. Guess this will fini my old stuff. You may not be 
interested in any part of them, but 1 know you will in this much, 
"Don't worry about the morals of your boys over here." We 
haven't even been in a town for six weeks where beer could be 
purchased, and here's the best of all, not a man on the duty 
roster of this Company has a veneral disease. Can you beat 
this in the states? Oh boy! 

All up for the seventh inning. Here's Frank Deutsch with 
a whole gang of francs for us medical engineers. 

DICK BARLOW. 



FOURTH LETTER 

August 11 th, 1918. 
Bridgeport Comfort Club, 
Dear Friends: — 

The Executive Committee says the old man better write 
to his girls and report on that two hundred dollars we received, 
»o here goes. 

First, the check was so large we had to get the signature of 
a Major or Captain, for of late mere non coms hadn't for 
some reason been having checks of this size cashed. Well 
Captain Stevens came to our rescue with his John Hancock, 

12 



and a Y. M. C. A. man gave us the francage. Golly, their paper 
money is so large here, we thought first we would paper a 
couple of rooms, but later decided to give each fellow dix 
franc. 

We have been able to reach a large number who have 
been transferred from time to time, as the entire sanitary train 
happened to be in this locality. Most of them had received 
five dollars from your Club, but we were glad to give them the 
ten franc besides, as we figured that they had been out of luck 
on some of the good things we in the original company had pre- 
viously received from you. We have no way of keeping in 
touch with all the men that are transferred, as for instance the 
order reads, so many men must go to the I 01st Infantry, but 
we do not know what company or battallion till w*e meet 
again and that is often months. So hereafter the committee 
thinks best, that should we receive any further moneys from 
you, that it be divided only among the men still in our com- 
pany. We have told as many of the fellows as we have seen to 
send in their new addresses to you. Now perhaps you would 
wish us to do otherwise, if so just drop a line to any of our com- 
mittee, for we want to work with you, as you will see by the 
copy of our Regulations, which I will enclose in our next letter. 

Each one has signed the enclosed slips as we have paid 
them the ten francs and we have kept a duplicate copy of same. 
So much for the money and as the slip reads, "We thank you." 

Since forming our Foreign Chapter of the Bridgeport 
Comfort Club, our boys have voted, as a company, to draw 
from our mess fund, the sum cf 200 francs, which we spent as 
follows: Oranges, 69.60; Tomatoes, 52.50, Lemons, 24.; 
Cauliflower, 45.; Radishes, 6.; Record Book, 1.50; Victrola 
Needles, 1.00; total 199.60. 

Also an S. O. S. Unit that was attached to us at that time, 
chipped in their share, 70 francs, so as to be in on our feed. 
This money w^e spent as follows: 6 Baking Powders, 5.90; 1 
Case of Pears, 32.90; 1 Case of Corn, 15.60; 1 Case of Pears, 
15.60; total 70.00. 

We have also voted to spend 1 000 francs from our Com- 
pany fund, in adopting two orphans. Data has been sent us, 
and "we have sent in the money, will no doubt soon hear 
whether we have won a blonde or brunette, and all about them. 
You bet I'll let you knew. 

Oh yes, and did I tell you this gang of ours is going to 
send you five copies of the Stars and Stripes for one year, we 
all like our paper and hope you find them interesting. 

Tried to send a telegram to you when we finished our 

13 



hitch in the lines, that all were well, but I have never seen the 
Red Cross man since, so do not know if it went through or not. 
I, no doubt, will see him at a later date. Speaking of the Red 
Cross, let me say they are our best friends over here. Above 
all others give to the Red Cross, for there is no greater Chris- 
tian w^ork than this. 

We have had two ball games this past week, split even. 
Bet this line up will make you think of the old days at Seaside 
Park. 

Ballard and Merrill, p Ahern, 3rd 

Gilbert, c Doreski, 1 f 

Beers, 1 st Widinghoff-Brendle c f 

McDonald, 2nd Cowie-Marshall, r f 

Wills, ss 

Yesterday we had a divisional track meet, Doughboys, 
Leathernecks, Pill Rollers and everything. Well, the Sanitary 
Train scored thirty one points and almost bust up the show, 
when they went ahead even in the grenade throwing. No other 
athletic events of late, save Al Sorensen and Hub Beers having 
a harvesting contest out in one of the wheat fields, Newtown 
won. 

Those pictures taken of the Comfort Club in the Red 
Cross parade and sent to Bert Coyle, sure were fine. We all 
feel better acquainted now, most all of us saw someone we 
knew ,and everyone remembered that husky youngster in the 
navy suit. 

We have not received the Pershing Fund money as yet, 
although our Company clerk has sent in our list of Connecticut 
men sometime ago. Think perhaps it is quite a bit of work to 
find out just what companies the men are in and divide the 
money pro rata. 

We are still in the town of L , where Lieut. Nagle 

left us. 

Rumors are, several men in our company or train, are to 
be made Lieutenants and several sergeants to go home for a 
time. Our non corns have dusted oS their manners. Well if 
any of thein drop in on you, don't mind their swear words, 
they don't mean them, anyhow they wouldn't talk very much, 
they would be too busy eating some of Ma's PIES. 

Au Revoir, 

DICK BARLOW, Sec. and Treas. 

Foreign Chapter of the 
Bridgeport Comfort Club. 

14 



FIFTH LETTER. 

Laignes Cote-d-Or, France 
August 22nd, 1918 
Bridgeport Comfort Club, 
Mornin' Neighbors: — 

Haven't received any mail for the Foreign Chapter as yet, 
but hope to soon, so will drop another note. 

Since our last letter to you, we have followed Lieut. 

Nagle's example, and parti from the town of L . They 

sure had us guessing as to which w^ay we were to go, all sorts 
of rumors were afloat, but no one actually knew. Some said 
back to the lines, others said to the rear, to Italy, to Russia and 
even HOME. So when we started out we were all on the qui 
vive to see which way we would go. First we hiked across the 
old suspension bridge that used to have the dynamite tied to 
it, ready to go up should friend Heinie become too ambitious. 
Then we w^ere put in big trucks and away we went. Give a 
guess now^ which way we will go, to the left means up to the 
lines again, to the right will mean we go the rear for a rest, 
everybody is holding their breath, and oh boy, what a relief, 
for they did not turn to the left. Hurray we are going to the 
REAR. 

Yep, sure enough, back we go all the afternoon long, 
town after town we passed through, and say maybe it wasn't 
hot and dusty on those cement roads, and when we finally 
stopped and pitched tents at night in some of the recently har- 
vested wheat fields, we looked as if we had been at work in 
a flour mill. We enjoyed it though, and next morning o^ we 
went again, through some large towns and small ones, even 
back through the town, where 1 said the swan were on the 
pond in the yard. All the way we watched the harvesting in 
the fields, women, men and young boys all working together, 
some with American made harvesting machinery and some 
with their own old style hand cradling scythes, with a blade 
three inches wide. We had seen so much wheat and other 
grains on our previous trips, that we wondered if they would 
ever be able to harvest it all, as the men were mostly away and 
the French leapers have only a five o rsix foot cutter, where a 
similar American machine would have a blade eight foot long, 
but they have done it and it is no wonder, for they do not stop 
until eight and nine o'clock at night, and it is mighty interesting 
to see them coming back into town again at night in those 
great heavy tw^o wheeled w^agons. one horse hitched ahead of 
the other. Large numbers of stallions are used for farm work 
as they are not dependable for army work, and are very easy 

15 



going and gentle, as they are worked extremely hard all the 
time, in fact everything seems moderate here, herds of cattle 
mope along the village streets like our oxen at home. 

Where was 1? Oh, yes, we were in trucks with the dust 
rolling up in clouds and going down our alimentary canals and 
forming a concrete lining in our hard tack and corned willie 
emporiums. 

We passed a great many houses with thatched roofs, fine 
truck gardens, miles and miles of vineyards on the hillsides, 
all kinds of grain, but no corn, have only seen one patch of 
corn in France. 

Well, we kept swinging along from one town to another 
all the second day, had an odd experience in one town. You 
see we thought we were old timers and had seen all the dif- 
ferent allied troops, from Chinese coolies and Italian artillery- 
men to Portugese with their red hats, but here were some new 
ones, we were passing men wearing French uniforms, but with a 
flat four-pointed hat, and they were smiling away at us, shout- 
ing in fine English, "Hello, Yanks." Well, they knew us, but 
who the deuce are they? What do you know, they were 
American Polish Regiments and their khaki uniforms haven't 
arrived yet. As we whizzed past, we shouted out, "Anybody 
from Bridgeport?" One lad yelled, "Nope, Union City and 
Scoville's Shop." So 1 guess this isn't such a large old world 
after all. 

Well, after we had ridden all day, we were ready to call 
it quits, and for once at least they were willing to let us, so off 
we piled. Gee, a nice town, few troops billetted here. Oh 
boy, hope we can stay and 1 guess we can, for the next day 
through the courtesy of the local priest, w^e w^ere billeted in 
some church property, used as a boys' school, but closed for 
the summer. One building that was used as a lecture hall, we 
have for barracks. Bill Adams is using the stage as his boudoir, 
and some of the rest are pitched in dog tents, and like it fine. 
And the town is so nice and quiet, just the place for a rest, 
why the most noise one hears is at mess time and Harry Edes 
and Dubee are eating soup. 

Quite a few of the boys have been sick with something 
similar to the three days' fever, but with dysentery and a 
sort of depression, sort of a re-action from several months* hard 
work, drinking water in each different town we hit, etc., we are 
told. Some are back from the hospital already and the rest 
are doing fine, none serious. Northrop, Clay, Carter, Wilcox 
and Claire have already come back to us and no more ill, so 
guess we have broken it up. We have rigged up a shower bath 
I 

16 



out of a gasoline barrel, everybody has had a hair cut, and a 
bath after drill puts the old pep into a feller. 

We are in what is called the S.O.S. now, meaning service 
of supply or rear, and can now name the town we are in, so will 
enclose a card of same, also a copy of our Foreign Chapter of 
the Bridgeport Comfort Club Rules and Regulations and hope 
your Club will approve of them and what w^e are doing. 

Since we came to this town some of the young French 
lads, who have just reached eighteen, have been notified to re- 
port for military training and they were so happy they have 
been parading streets for several nights, blowing bugles, etc. 
Finest class of people here that we have had the privilege of 
mingling with over here — some quite w^ell to do and many 
speak English. One French lady had a dozen of us at her 
home recently, played the piano for us and sang in English all 
the late American songs. Oh Gee, oh Golly, all you had to do 
w^as to close your eyes and let your mind w^ander a bit and you 
were over home in the front parlor down to the girl's house. 

The Regimental Band plays every night for us now, as 
they are not to be used as litter bearers any more and their 
leaders are to be officers instead of sergeants. Almost forgot 
to tell you about the gymnasium we have as part of the school 
property; it is fine, all fitted out with parallel bars, swinging 
rings, dumb bells and two trapeze bars, one low^ and one regu- 
lation. The low one is only four feet from the ground and is 
now^ considered the personal property of Cooper and Shorty 
Keane, all others stay off, while ir'op Brendle shines on the 
big one. 

We have two fine new Lieutenants, brand new^, just over, 
and now if they happen to censor this letter, I hope they will 
just try to be buck privates for a few minutes. Well they give 
us gas mask drills, etc., tell us all about gas, but most of this 
gang have seen steen times as much gas as they have. But they 
are regular fellows and we work fine with them. One is a 
dandy, old style Scotch Irish physician, and a regular daddy to 
us, goes eight miles out of his way to do anything he can for 
us and both are of the few that have come over here for the 
good they can do and not how much they can learn of surgery 
or how high they can rise. When they spoke to us about 
cooties and how to get rid of them, he said the best way was 
to get a greased paper bag, some ether, oil of cloves and burn 
em, well, listen girls, a soldier near the lines has about as much 
chance of dropping in a drug store and buying those things, aa 
we have of getting ice cream and strawberry short cake. An- 
other time up the line we met a dough boy whom we knew, in 

17 



fact it was young Hanrahan of your city, pretty tired, well 
cootied, dirty and some sores on his lower limbs which needed 
attention. When the examination was over the new Lieuten- 
ant says, "What you need, my boy, is to go back to your com- 
pany, get new underwear, a hot bath, and put this liniment on." 
Well, in that drive, he had about as much chance of getting 
new underwear and a hot bath, as a Pro German in the Gauge 
department at the U. M. C. during a Red Cross campaign. 

Hope they will pardon these little secrets, but we have a 
way of our ow^n to fix cooties, sit still now^ and I will tell 
you. First, remove the shirt entirely from the body, second, 
place it on the ground and watch it till it gets seven or eight 
feet away, then let drive five or six hand grenades in rapid 
succession, then draw your hatchet and have some iodine ready 
for a counter attack. 

Well, what has that to do with the natives here being very 
proud to w^elcome us to their tov/n, especially since they have 

found out that w^e have come from C . They can't 

understand it that we are so young and how Uncle Sam feeds 
us so w^ell, and speaking of eats, just listen now, say couldn't 
we get in touch w^ith some old broken dow^n anarchist and 
make a deal with him to do away with a couple of those fac- 
tories in the States that manufacture can openers, for then our 
Army mess sergeants would be out of luck and we might get 
something besides canned foods, why they even pull canned 
potatoes on us now, both sweet and Irish. 

Say folks, wonder if you could do us a favor? It is this. 
Could you find out through the Adjutant General's office of 
your state, why we were never paid our drill money? We were 
told when we drilled at the Armory that we would receive a 
certain amount for each drill, if we had over 90% of the men 
at the drill. Men from Massachusetts and Rhode Island have 
received their checks since coming to this country, even their 
members who w^ere not at the border. May 1 also say we have 
not received as yet the Connecticut Pershing Fund money. 

Well, must close for this time. What do you say, you call 
up the Telephone office or Warner's Shop or anywhere you 
can, and fix it with a few of the girls, and we will bring a squad 
over and go to Poli's some afternoon next week. 

Au Revoir, 

DICK BARLOW, 
1 02nd Ambulance Company. 

P. S. — Tell the folks when they write to put in a few 
stamps and the boys will appreciate them, for we use them in 
sending home the Stars and Stripes and other papers and we 

18 



have no way of getting them here except at a Divisional Post 
Office, that is often miles away. The Y. M. C. A. does not 
often have them. Also when addi-essing mail to us just A. E. 
F. may be taken for the Australian Expeditionary Forces, so to 
be sure -we are told to use Amex F orces and there is only one 
1 02nd Ambulance Company in the Amex Forces, so no need 
to write ! 1 st Sanitary Train or mention the division number, 
just write, 

Per So and So., 

1 02nd Ambulance Company, 
Amex Forces 



SIXTH LETTER 

September 14th. 1918 
Bridgeport Comfort Club, 

Bridgeport, Conn., U. S. A. 
Dear Friends:- — 

Please step before the mast, girls. S'matter, our Com- 
mittee gets no mail? Ain't angry, be you? 

Well, anyway, all the officers of the Foreign Chapter have 
been thrown down so many times before that they don't mind 
it and they say that faint heart never won fair damsels, D. S. 
C.'s or discharges, so we will try again. No mail from you as 
yet, in fact no one has had much mail in the last three weeks, 
as there is a tie-up somewhere along the road. Although we 
don't like to admit it, we are like the Hun in one way and that 
is, we have a lot of mail ccming to us from the good old U. S. 
A. 

You will remember 1 said that we had entered college, 
had a gym and everything. Yep, and passes start next week 
sure, Cockerton, Holzheimer and Foley have had their trousers 
pressed, shoes shined, faces w^ashed and all slicked up like a 
Polish church, and imagining themselves on the main stem at 
gay Paree. We were enjoying band concerts most every night. 
Beat the Signal corp at baseball, 4 to 2, with Ballard and Carter 
as our battery. Why we even all went to church at the special 
memorial service for those killed and wounded in recent battles. 
One other day there was a funeral service of an aged civilian, 
and all the men folks were out, all dressed up in dandy Prince 
Albert suits and high hats, a la August Baker out at iMountain 
Grove. Why, we didn't knov/ there v/ere so many of those 
plug hats left in the world. Fred Kellar, better known as 
"Hand Grenade Mike" was itching to let a couple of grenades 

19 



go at the hats, but finally decided to hold them to fish with up 
at Pembroke Lake. 

One new fellow has just come to our company, very sad 
case, he was forced to drive an ambulance down at one of the 
big seaports and couldn't go to a burlesque show only twice a 
week, although he was eating from real china dishes, he had 
to have his mess kit inspected every Monday morning. Now 
that is what we call a tough war. Someone asked if he had 
ever been at the front. "Nope, I haven't, but now fellows, I 
think 1 have a mighty good idea of what it is up there, for one 
day down at Paris, I saw an airplane shot down and it landed 
right near us." Pardon our repeating our selves, but like the 
fellow that hadn't had the tremens, he hain't been nowhere and 
he hain't seen nothin'. 

We used to hike around the town and watch the farmers 
thrashing their grains, most every farm seemed to have a one 
horse tread mill thrasher, women and all working till sunset 
each day Oh, of course, we had to drill five or six hours each 
day at litter drill, squads up and two's west and all that im- 
portant? stuff. Let me say here that these or any fellov/s who 
have carried a few thousand litters in actual duty, without ever 
giving an order, it is mighty hard to make them put any interest 
in litter drills, and no matter what officers or non coms are put 
with them, they can never be made to do that street soldier 
stuff like we did when rookies. Why some argue so over doing 
anything of this nature, one would think they had been reading 
the life of Lawyer Patrick. 

Well, everything was lovely, as I said, for a long time, 
pretty near a week, then som^eone with an O. D. chin strap and 
nickle plated spurs blows a whistle and says something about 
"parteeing tout de suite," well, in a couple of hours w^e had 
closed the college, gym, et al., and were in those luxurious 
touring cars of ours and off we went. Oh, don't ask me where? 
How do I know? Like the, colored troops we passed and tried 
to jolly one lad in the rear by saying "Where you all g'wan, 
man?" "Don't know, boys, that man up front am a leading" 
was the reply we received. 

And speaking of "parteeing" reminds me of the time we 
left dear old Niantic on our first move. Why, we packed up 
stuff for two weeks at least, everyone was excited, three or four 
had nervous prostration, including the C. O., and one or two 
were run over. Now a days some one blow^s the whistle once, 
and two hours later he gives it a couple of toots, and away we 
go, Q. M., kitchen stuff, medical supplies, and dressing station, 
all aboard, cut her loose, "parti tout de suite" is right. Al- 

20 



though this Committee hasn't been in consultation with General 
Foch of late, the only reason we know for moving was, maybe 
they found out that those cement linings to our stomachs, 1 
spoke of, needed a little patching up, a la Warrenite on Connec- 
ticut Avenue, you know. 

Well, we went and we went and then went some more, 
passed our old billets in the town of our first stop on the hike 
from the little town, where the swan were on the lake, up to- 
ward our second front. Fields look fine, grain is all harvested. 
Although we did not believe they could ever do it, but on all 
the trip not a field was seen left unharvested, nothing in the 
ground now save some third crop alfalfa and plenty of mangel 
w^ertzels for the stock. Great herds of sheep are in the fields 
and the trees are just turning enough to be attractive. Here you 
boys, come out of those apple trees! This sure is a beautiful 
season to travel. What do you say, we start out next Sunday 
and go up through Derby to Waterbury and back via Cheshire, 
there's a pretty route, or go up to Hartford and Springfield, up 
one side of the river and down the other, through that tobacco 
growing country. Oh, the deuce, I just remembered you are 
having gasless Sundays over there and here I have wasted all 
that good paper, well, that's a good cause, so we are with you, 
it's all off. 

You understand that when they are moving troops 
around, that on coming to a large town or city, we stop three 
or four kilos outside, get all set, then shoot through, like Crazy 
Lewis used to up around those Litchfield County towns, then 
outside the town again we slow down. Have some hard tack 
with a little dash of dust on it, Mr. Sorensen? Ah, don't 
bother him, he is asleep as usual, is the remark we hear. 

We passed through a couple of towns, where they had 
beer on draught, but of course we couldn't stop, but we figured 
it out that we were about even anyway, as just two towns back 
we passed a farm yard that needed cleaning up, and although 
we slowed down, us medical engineers did not have to get off 
and go to it. While none of our boys claim to be expert prog- 
nosticators, whatever that is, and seeing that the law is off fool- 
ish question No. 29, "When is the war going to be over?" we 
w^ant to say right now that it can't possibly last the year out, 
for our Committee find that there are only ciquante cing farms 
in France still to be cleaned up and that's no job at all for all 
the boys over here now. What we are trying to figure out now 
is, how the cows know which is the kitchen door and which is 
the barnyard. 

On the trip, we bivouaced at night, camouflaging as much 

21 



as possible, then next day or so start again and pitch tents 
again. Ever do it? Why say, it's the finest way we know of to 
find out just how infinitely small one really is in this old world. 
Just open up the back flap of the tent and gaze at the stars, 
the moon and those rolling clouds, then think of how many 
others there are in the world besides you, all looking up to that 
same Master, and you are imagining that you are some one. 

Why the Well, just try it sometime, that's all. 

Now I can't tell you where we are and anyway you don't 
care, as long as you know that as always these boys of yours are 
ready to do their bit. All but one or two are back from the 
hospital and no one has gone in the last two w^eeks, except Bill 
Adams with another broken wrist from cranking a car. Any- 
way, folks, don't mind it, if you do hear from a friend some- 
time that he is in the hospital. It doesn't always mean that he 
is dying or even very bad ofi, for it is different than in civil life 
in this way. Men doing duty must be able to hike or go to the 
hospital. Now, at home if he had ingrowing toe nails, a broken 
wrist, ankle or three days' fever he could stay at home if he 
wished. We have no facilities for caring for anyone, so away 
he must go to where they have. Men must even go to the 
hospital to get a plate for teeth or to get eyes tested and glasses 
fitted, as in Ma Phillips recent case. 

Listen girls, someone must have snitched about our deal 
to fix the mess sergeant by cutting off the supply of can openers, 
for Sergt. Carter has served us pancakes several times recently 
and even since coming here, where we found the finest four 
stove mess house we ever had, why he even celebrated by serv- 
ing us with open faced squash pies. 

Why we have even all had a hot bath since coming here, 
never used to think much about this little stunt, but over here it 
is an event to go down in the diary. 

Wonder if I ever told you about the fire departments over 
here, most all the houses are built of stone and not much to 
burn, only some large hand hewed wooden rafters, so they 
don't need very much, but I saw on the corner the large sign 
POMPE INCENDIE No. 69, so to satisfy my curiosity 1 went 
up to see No. 69. Whoa, oh Gee, Say, ever see Chief Evitts, 
with a Warner Brothers' red shirt on, leading the Trumbull fire 
department to a fire? Why they have these Frogs stopped six 
ways. No. 69 was a big pan on two wheels with a hand pump 
attached. No wonder, George Stevens, our clean cut chap 
from Milford, said it reminded him of home and the old 
rounders that used to sit on the depot platform on Saturday 

22 



night, twirling cork screws on their fingers, while watching for 
the late train to come in. 

Most of the towns we have been in of late do not have 
beer for sale and it has gotten to be a by word in some com- 
panies "*Fini Biere." Of course our company doesn't mind it. 
Plenty of wines, but they are so sickening, to most of the fellows 
and even to those who did formerly take a drink, that a great 
demand has been made for something to take its place as most 
every one has a so-called sweet tooth. Every man has eaten 
more chocolate than they ever did in the States and the demand 
is so great that the Y. M. C. A. cannot begin to furnish us 
enough, and the French confections do not begin to fill the bill. 
Over here a fellow w^ill see a sign in a store about confections. 
You go in expecting to buy an ice cream soda or a box of 29c 
Saturday Specials, and they are liable to hand you out a neck 
tie or a pair of Paris garters, for these are included as confec- 
tions. Perhaps finally after a battle of words, you manage to 
come out v/ith a package of biscuit, ginger cookies or cake, and 
on opening them up you find that they taste about like a pretzel, 
only not quite so juicy. 

So you had a ball game in your town, with one team of 
players coming in airplane and the other in submarine; 
thought at first it was one of those Winsted true stories. And 
our own Levinsky got a walloping and by a clay Indian at 
that. S' matter. Battler? Pardon us, dear people, for crit- 
icising, but when we read the sporting sheet of late, we say, 
"Why don't the fighters and ball players come over here, or 
don't they know there is a war on?" Some of us were over 
age, but we came just the same. Don't those gold stars on 
the arms of the parents they pass each day mean anything 
to them? And you girls that are getting married to officers, 
— think twice, are you sure you are not marrying a uniform? 
And you young fellows still in America seeking to be offi- 
cers before you have shown your worth to Uncle Sam. 1 
admit you will look nice in a uniform, the money is good, 
too, and the folks in the old home town will think you are a 
ring-tailed humdinger. But listen. Put yourself over here. 
Can you handle men? Can you write home to a Mother that 
her son went West, while under your command? Can you 
say to yourself, away down deep in your soul, that her boy 
was handled by a fellow with the old stuff in him that makes 
a Man? 

Girls, stick to your lover over here if you have one. 
Don't be impatient, for these fellows are going through an 
apprenticeship to manhood that if they are spared to re- 

23 



turn, will make them big hearted, broad minded, square as 
a dollar, straight from the shoulder, men of tomorrow. 

I thank you, 

DICK BARLOW. 
Sec. and Treas., Foreign Chapter. 
P. S. — Two prints enclosed were taken by Sunny George 
Wright. 



SEVENTH LETTER. 

September 18th, 1918. 
Bridgeport Connfort Club, 
Dear Friends: — 

Met a Red Cross man last night, so sent along another 
"All well" telegram to you. We find that you in America 
know very quickly through the Press, after our Division gets 
in action. May I explain that "All wells" to you mean no 
casualties in recent fighting, not necessarily no men in the 
hospital, for in any company there are at least one or more 
in all the time. 

Received two days ago, my first answer to any of my 
letters to our Club. Hope our letters may be of interest to 
you and that you will let us know of any way we can aid one 
another. 

On September 5th there was a special church service 
for those fallen in recent battles, and at the same service, 
citations were presented to a large number of men. From 
our company to receive them were Kwasniski, Radikin, Wall, 
McElroy, Banks, Stevens and Thompson. Oh, this gang 
of yours generally horns in on all the doings over here in one 
way or another. Anything without a 102nd doughboy, 
leatherneck, or ambulance man in it, is like a circus 'thout 
lemerade. 

Sometime ago we met the artillery boys from your city, 
Capt. Bennett and all, going up the line to send over a few 
kisses to Heinie, via some nice new guns nearly as large as 
those in the Armory. Yes, and only the other night who 
blew in to see us but Jack Avery and Myron Jackson. You 
know that song about "Ain't it great to meet a lad from your 
home town." Well, what I mean, the writer of that song knew 
his little leather bound testament. 

Before we left the town where I wrote last to you, 
several of us had the pleasure of going through a French 
hospital. We have hauled many a lad up to the back door 

24 



of one of these places, but this was our first time to see the 
boys after we left them, and it was certainly very interesting. 
Why in one ward where fractures were treated, some of the 
lads had so many pulleys, handles and riggin' around them 
they could almost qualify for an engineer. One even had a 
metal pin through his fractured knee cap and his leg held 
in a special adjustable German frame, while another had a 
leg in a plaster cast, made so he would be able to walk on it 
after three days, and those girls in another ward probing 
Wounds several inches deep, made one's throat kinda get out 
of kilter for a minute, and we thought we were hard boiled 
to those things. Why, we will take off our hats to those croix 
rouge gals. Another thing makes one feel liice the night he 
proposed to his first wife, to run ker plunk right along 
side of one of those big American locomotives. You know, 
those with the super heating riggin' on 'em like those trotting 
horses up at Danbury Fair, and you imagine yourself back on 
the old depot platform with a couple of those 1 300 type 
rolling by and you say to yourself "Well, there goes quite a 
few "Liberty Bonds." 

Well, as I was saying in my last letter, they were taking 
us around the country in big trucks, pitching tents here and 
there and moving so much at night that we began to feel as 
though we had done something we were ashamed of, or were 
understudying for second story work. One camp we were 
outside a big city, so our Committee having some money 
from what you sent us, went into town to see what we could 
buy. Well, everything was, so high it seemed a shame to waste 
good money, but when we saw^ some real bananas, we could not 
resist, but could only buy three and one half dozen good ripe 
ones, but finally got a large can of jam and some cheese, and 
maybe they don't reap a harvest from the American soldiers, 
they wanted eight francs a dozen for oranges, about $1.60, 
bananas cost six francs, eggs five francs. 

Away we went that night for another town. Don't ask 
us where for we haven't seen a paper in several days and are 
only trusting to luck that the fellow up front don't lose that 
map. Wait a minute, driver, there is Vernon Peck transferred 
back to our company, let him on. 

Hey, Ballard, all up, lucky seventh, looka that castle we 
are stopping near, bet that is where Bob Ritchie, of the U. M. 
C. used to live. Bet we all have a suite of rooms. Yep, we 
did? Out in tents under the trees in the rain. Anyhow the 
officers enjoyed the castle, we hope. I 2 G. M. and still rain- 
ing. All out, we move again, boys. Curses why didn't w"e 

25 



bring along an express wagon. This time where we stopped 
we could count six or seven sausages in the air and had some 
dugouts that had bunks so close we imagined we were on the 
Corsican. One dugout was named Niantic and the other 
Framingham, the latter having a Fort Riley annex, and maybe 
these roads are not jammed with all sorts of troops, teams, 
trucks, etc., why, the parade one sees some days makes Bar- 
num's old show seem like corn stalk league stuff. Surely after 
this war, circuses and fairs will have to develop some thriller? 
to get the twinkle of an eyelash out of this A. E. F. bunch, for 
it is free to all here, save of late the Allemande bunch have 
been paying quite heavily. This old blood and thunder hospi- 
tal bombing stuff goes away below par when the old Yanks get 
started after the Boche, why they only laughed at those Huns 
this last scrap. There is nothing on wheels that can ever stop 
this Amex dwarf army now. 

Pardon me just a minute. Big John Smith has just come 
in, transferred back to us, send a note to the mess sergeant to 
draw rations for ten extra men tout de suite, and Corp. Morrell 
is putting up a notice on the board. Say listen, what do you 
think it was? Us fellows have finally got our orphans. Yep, 
sure enough, look who is here, Marie Louise Decollas, age 1 1 , 
and Paul Maillard, age 6. Welcome to our dugout. Parson 
Davis is already appointed their Godfather. You know girls, 
we don't really have them with us here, just their pictures, the 
kids themselves are home with their parents, or I should say 
their Mothers, for each of their daddies have been called upon 
to make the supreme sacrifice in this cruel war. The Red Cross 
handle the money, we just support them for one year. We 
are trying to get some pictures to send them to you, cannot of 
course send these first photos, as they are company property. 
A. E. F. boys have taken 500 orphans. 

Our commanding officer was sent to the hospital several 
days ago and the Lieutenant, whose picture I sent to you in my 
last letter, has been in charge. By the way, before we forget it, 
everyone wants to be remembered to "Loot" Nagle. 

Well, we will be gum swizzled, here comes Corp. Deutsch 
with another 200 from the Comfort Club. Well this is our 
second two hundred, Lieut. Sprague did not endorse it, but we 
will nail him soon and anyhow there isn't any one up here to 
cash it, but just wait till we get back to that two months lest in 
the rear ?????? some of you have written of, then it will 
come in handy, shall pay all men a share that are in our com- 
pany now, that were with us our last day at Niantic. We Will 
have to leave the transferred men to you. Speaking of the 

26 



last days at Niantic, reminds us of the day at Halifax when the 
wounded Tommies near a hospital there said to us, "Oh, you 
belong to the R. A. C, (rob a comrade) boys." Well, I am 
frank to admit we have a couple of 32nd degree souvenir 
hunters, I guess they will get into any company. 

Whoa , there goes the artillery, the drive is on, and they 
said the 1 3th was unlucky, oh boy, it sure was for the Boche. 
TTiey may call it an ordered retreat, but from the shell holes 
around here, they wouldn't have had to order us the second 
time; like seconds on pie we would have heard them the first 
time. Don't like to compliment our opponent too much, but 
beaucoup of them lying around here surely died with their 
boots on. All your boys have had wonderful experiences and 
seen many very interesting things of late. It seems like a trip 
to Germany, in fact it is Germany since 1870. All have some 
souvenirs to send home, have eaten Boche black bread, each 
loaf dated, drank their soda w^ater, used their paper bandage, 
postcards, etc., and we are even playing captured records on 
the Victrola. By the way we had a picture taken of the Victrola 
the other day, while it was playing some of the new German 
music and we had dolled it up with its two service stripes. We 
will send this to you or perhaps direct to the Graphophone 
Company, if all those good looking girls over there will be real 
nice and keep their noses all powdered up good for the next 
couple of weeks. 

Francolini and Marsten have had some great experiences. 
Calamity Murphy has made a fine man to send as a litter 
bearer, only he has to cover his nose, so as not to give the 
positions away, and by the way, Pomeroy and Northrop have 
a good deal to say about New Milford and claim two men 
recently had the roofs of their mouths sun burned from looking 
at the tall buildings there. Please find out if there is such a 
place, and if so, when it was annexed to America. 

Someone has said that all is fair in love and war, and we 
think it must be, for outside the Kaiser, the meanest man in 
Europe is the artillery guy that untied three perfectly good 
horses from another company's picket line and left three saddle 
sore qrowbates in their stead one night recently. 

Say, aren't those Wanamaker Liberty Bell writing sta- 
tions just the thing, wish there were more of them. Mail from 
home is better than medicine and especially if one is just going 
up. We also appreciate the Defence Council work for us. 

May I offer a few^ suggestions about mail, the following 
things have been or should be barred as joy killing stuff: 

27 



Pictures of Fairfield Beach, 

Quilty's dance programs and 

All menu cards and mention of feeds. 

The recent drive has cheered the boys up fine, 'twas a 
regular picnic, why we haven't had so much fun since someone 
hit Honeck on the bald head with the hunk of butter the last 
day we ate at the Fairfield restaurant. 

Just a word about Rumors. Nail *em on the head< Every 
man in this company has been reported either wounded or sick. 
Someone has little to do, to make one's friends Worry more 
than they do. 

We are at present living in German barracks. German 
captured water wagons, bicycles, trucks, etc., are going by, 
being driven by Yanks. One new lad in our outfit from Colo- 
rado. Stranger says, "Say, boy, where' s this Yankee division 
from?" "Oh, the New England States and Colorado," says he. 

Will send some paper that looks like crepe paper, but 
which is captured German paper bandage, also a diagnosis 
card, a sheet from one of their calendars and also address this 
letter with their ink. Will have to hand it to them on their 
eggs, for each one is stamped with a serial number. 

A fellow has just called me Irving Cobb, then explained 
that he didn't mean that I wrote anything like him, but that 1 
was most as good looking. Well, can you beat that? I'm 
through. 

DICK BARLOW. 



EIGHTH LETTER. 

October 1st, 1918. 
Good afternoon. Ladies: — 

Anyone in the house that loves out-door life, please fall 
in and we will take a stroll over the hills near us. Sure bring the 
men folks along, have a Hun cigar or cigarette, gentlemen. We 
will walk slow and you girls look out and don't tear your skirts 
on this old barb wire. You see back of us a few miles is what 
used to be No Man's Land. I say back, for recently this Amex 
gang got out their mops and had one of those old fashioned 
"clean up" days and they made this "Yankee Land." Now I 
wouldn't swear what started those American boys to play so 
rough, but they say a dough boy received a letter from someone 
in the good old U. S. A., that you were going to tap all the Pro 
Germans, so he and his gang started out on a little party, but 
friend Hun he went so fast all they could do was to tap his shoes 

28 



with 30-30's. Why they didn't even stop to finish their steins 
of beer and some even went without underwear, the Crown 
Prince in the lead. Yep, he sure is a great leader alright, that is 
when they are going out. Gee, his papa was so riled at his 
little pet, that he put him to bed thout supper and tore his best 
red kimona all up in little pieces. 

Here vegetation is alive, and see, the grass is green, foli- 
age is on the trees, even daisies, wild carrots and now^ and then 
a toad. Yes, that's where a I 55 landed, see the pieces of shrap- 
nel in the bottom and look at those trees. People say, "Why 
don't the men get behind the trees?" Well just count them up, 
there's at least six knocked clown just ahead of you that are at 
least 42 stouts, as they say in D. M. Read's. 

Just look at the view over the hills, you can see for miles 
and miles. Now do you believe that anyone can realize the vast 
areas that troops must cover, unless one has actually seen it> 
Those small holes, oh. they are where 75's hit and look at that 
old 88 over there, see those red boxes of stuff in the barrel, 
well that's dynamite, only they didn't get time to set it off. 
That's right, Mr. Wheeler, cut a cane, one need.-; them here, 
especially at night, we call 'em trench sticks. This is quite a hill 
alright, and I guess we are going a little too fast, for there are 
Mrs. Beach and Mrs. Sprague back quite a ways. Oh, Mr. Sol- 
dier, look at all those dugouts. Gracious, aren't they smashed? 
Do shells burst concrete and iron girders like that? Yes, dear 
people, it does. On this next hill is a regular sleeping metropolis 
of dugouts and the w^hole hillside is tunnelled. Guess they ex- 
pected to stay another four years. Now^ we are on the crest of 
the hill and there is No Man's Land in front of you. You com- 
pre. No Man's Land must be different on every front. Sometimes 
it is a steep hill, then again it is a valley, but here is the real old 
type you see pictured most. You know^ the old ones, no vegeta- 
tion, trees shot off in v/hat was a forest, net a tree over three 
inches in diameter left standing and not a green leaf, shell holes 
and trenches and more trenches. Why as we poke about here, 
one feels like W. A. H. Hatfield estimating the damage after 
the Burrit fire. 

Just over there is w^here Earl Carter and Jim O'Connell 
bought that two acres of land you heard of. Ves, they have it 
roped off, and friend Hun has already dropped a couple of 
2 1 O's into it for them so they won't have much of a cellar to 
dig, when they start their home for ex Crowned heads. We 
know these folks w^ill like these surroundings for they have 
spent years planning them for someone else to live in and just 
so as not to let them forget the big war altogether, they are go- 

29 



ing to leave a 75 near by to whang out the time of day every 
half hour, like a ship's bell. 

Did you notice that there is no smell here like there was 
at the last front? Why our gang had so few casualties, that one 
chaplain had a funeral service on a hillside for a fallen comrade 
and they are not coming very fast when they can do this, and 
that service did us good, too. 

See that sign about "Strengsten Verboten" guess the 
dough boys didn't study Hun at school, for we found a couple 
of dead ones behind the door and had to bury 'em. They sure 
did go "Backward Mit Gott" through here. Of course, this 
has been a dandy chance for some of our boys to send a little 
note to some reporter friend of theirs, not giving a rap about 
getting their names in the paper, but just to let him know they 
were sitting on the barbed wire in No Man's Land, with one 
pounders peppering at 'em, that's the impression some seem to 
w^ant to create. Why 1 saw a picture of a lad the other day in 
one of our local papers, telling of his being gassed, shrapnelied, 
whizzbanged, shot with an air craft rifle, etc., etc., can only say 
if he was gassed, it must have been done by telephone. 

Hope you will pardon me for having mentioned No Man's 
Land so many times, rest assured ! have not meant it in a boast- 
ful way. We surely never could have taken this hike together, 
if the dough boys and leathernecks hadn't made it possible, 
they are the ones to credit. Any dough boy can have the shirt 
off this man's back any time he says the word. No gamer men 
ever lived. 

Well let's wander back down the other road, down past 
the narrow gauge railroad, w^here the ammunition was brought 
up. See the ladder work up in the trees where the sniper s post 
was and over there are two dummy guns to fool the airplanes, 
look almost like those that used to be in Lyon and Grummans' 
window. That long belt of bullets, oh, that goes through a ma- 
chine gun. Yes, those are the gas masks, helmets, boots, rifles, 
canteens, etc., that they used and had to leave behind. Notice 
their shovels with a nice round knob on the handle. I'll be gum- 
swizzled, if they wouldn't be fine for your street department 
men, they wouldn't ever slip out of their arm pits. 

Down on that high hill over there one can see for miles, 
on every side in a complete circle, the landscape, and not a 
mountain or hill to obstruct his view at any one point. Did you 
ever see a place like that in the States? we never did. Don't get 
us wrong now, for when fini the guerre is a reality we won't be 
in no back row when passes for home are given out. Nearest 
we ever came to equalling this view was at Mt. Tom. Is it far? 

30 



Let's walk up. Oh, no, it's not so far, but shells drop over oc- 
casionally and they know just what they left here and know 
that over there is the only place to get water for miles around, 
so naturally there must be quite a few horses about at least, so 
he lets one come over now and then. 

Well, we are most home now^, so come up and see the dug- 
outs and barracks they built for us, and Gilbert will show you 
one of those greyish black sweaters that so many of the fel- 
lows found here. Oh yes the Hun Red Cross w^omen didn't 
know it at the time, but they knitted quite a bit for us. Yes, 
Mam, that's a Red Cross station down there and say who do 
you think is in there? Donahue of Milford, and you know we 
stick around these Red Cross lads like the editor of the Nev/- 
town Bee at a church supper, and when they give out any choc- 
olate or cookies, or gum, what 1 mean, we're not much further 
back in line than Gus Hannan and Jake Ahearn used to sit of a 
Saturday night dov/n at the Park. Did you see the book we 
found here? "Die Experimentelle Bakteriologie und die Infek- 
stions etc., etc.," und by Gollies, it's a vonder, haven't found a 
mistake in it yet. 

What are those men doing around that table in the next 
room? Oh, they are having a game of checkers (deux soos) 
and have just opened up some of that "Sons of Vets" terbac- 
cer. No, 1 do not know what those other men mean, that are 
bent over there and are muttering something about "Baby 
needs a pair of shoes" ; each and every member is allowed 
three guesses and prizes given every Tuesday. 

By George, we didn't tell you about Loot Durham's Y. M. 
C. A. Well you see twas just like this, there were tv/o Y. M. men 
in a Ford, when they got ditched, so soine officers bought them 
out at a sacrifice sale and sold the things to us, first come first 
served, men from all companies horned in, and the doughboys, 
thinking that it v/as a regular Y. M., bawled them all out for 
further orders for not havin' nothin' any good, and Esben got 
all mixed up with the change, for you see there's troops from 
all lands here and each has a litttle money from his own coun- 
try. Any lad that hasn't at least money from seven nations, 
ain't no account a tall. Anyway we will admit the candy 
wasn't very good and let us say right here, if that rule ever 
goes through, that us guys are to get a half pound of real 
American chocolate every ten days as a government issue, well, 
don't snitch, girls, but we know one lad that's going to sneak 
off in some corner like a Frog with a bottle of pinaud. 

Whoa, here's some mtril just come in, look what's here, 
some real old Australian official ballots for us soldier lads. Sure 

31 



we all voted alright and some wanted to vote again, but they 
said they wasn't giving out no seconds, but 'twas a pretty tame 
election, for no one w^as around to shake hands, saj?^ "ride in my 
car, and see you tonight, and you know me Bill." Not a Danny 
Walker around, and Mortensen was mixed up, thought John 
Boyle was going to run for Governor this year, and Chas. Mor- 
gan said "H , no, that's Bill Brady of Black Rock, you 

mean." Think most of the fellows voted prohibition for "Beers, 
Just or Unjust," we heard a great many voters in the good old 
U. S. were learning to be tailors, at least they were going to 
make the saloons close. 

Just a minute, ladies, here's Bud Palmer with more mail. 
Bill Adams writes that he is commg fine and to hold his service 
record, as he will be back soon, and Walter Scott writes that he 
will be back any day now. Foley was only getting his glasses 
anyway, and Thompson his ears fixed up. We hear that Charlie 
Johnson and Ralph Hull are back with you again, if it be true 
please remember us to them, 

I can see that Mrs. Stratton and Mrs. Forsyth are getting a 
little uneasy about getting home in time to have supper ready 
for those men folks. Well, drop in again, we have enjoyed it, 
but guess you find this missile, or is it missive, about as spicy and 
interesting as the Congressional Record or the Farm Journal, 
but wait till I find a Hun typewriter as a souvenir, then I will 
"snap it up" as the top sergeant talks about. Sure they have al- 
ready given me a little Hun machine gun cart to drag it around 
with. 

Now about us coming home, don't get excited, I don't 
mean right off, certainly not till our two months' vacation we 
are on is over, but when we do come, let us say, never mind get- 
ting out the Fairfield Silver Cornet Band to play welcome 
home, or any of that stuff, for Heinie has furnished music 
enough But say, better warn the kids not to holler "Duck" as 
we go by, for if they do you ain't going to have no parade a 
tall. And if any of your lads, on going out of a Saturday night, 
sticks a can of corned bill into his pocket, don't laugh at him, 
for it's just force of habit to have emergency rations along. All 
a fellow has to do, if he thinks he's lost over here, is to watch 
for tin cans along the road and he is sure the A. E. F. gang is 
ahead somewhere. We certainly do appreciate it that you good 
people in America are denying yourselves so that we can have 
plenty to eat, but it seems sometimes that altogether too many 
were saving us the aforesaid W^. K. stuff, (Beer's stuff) 

Yes, George Dubee still holds the record for being able 
to skootch more of his anatomy under a steel stetson than any- 

32 



one else in the outfit, all you can see of him is his right knee, 
and Goodnow has added to his record of changing a rear shoe 
and a spark plug at the same time, and now cooks doughnuts 
in the back of his car during a barrage. 

Say, girls, just another minute before you go home, what 
do you think. We met Lieut. Powers and only two towns away 
from us at that, he looks fine too. And you know Bob Stewart 
has been sent to an Auto School. Just wait till he hollers "'Right 
Dress" down there and all the shingles come off the roof, then 
they'll know Bridgeport is on the map. Yep, and Pratt and 
Whitney have offered to send us some nice kits, sure send em 
along P and W, ain't we the luckiest kids? By Golly, this sure 
is some gang of yours, for two lads out in front now have i 
French cootie and a German louse on a metal mirror, siking 'em 
on one another. Can you beat that? 

Sit up close, girls, say who the deuce is telling this stuff 
about lots of the Amex boys marrying French girls? We have 
been around these diggans some months now and have yet to 
hear of a single case. Why it's just as Bill Cowie says, "What 
would a fellow w^rite to one, only bon Jour and Avez vous 
des oeufs?" 

Wish the boys coming ever here now, could be tipped off 
to put a good jackknife in their pockets and to get a watch. 
Radiolite is best, for we do as much nights as we do in the day. 

Well, see you up at Danbury Fair. Gee, the Fall is here, 
hate to think of it, but it is nearing the time when we used to 
start to go to Sunday School so as to get n-orang. Now our 
mind is on Xmas. Say, w^ouldn't it be grand if we could ex- 
change our mail privilege of getting two months old newspa- 
pers and have instead boxes sent to us, say up to two or three 
pounds? 

And to those youngsters in the "Boy Scout Troops" let 
us say, "Be the lads your Mudder thinks you be." 

You fellows and girls, who are giving your time and 
money to help all us lads we say, "You're a Brick, stick to it. 
the Kaiser can't." 

Same old, 

DICK BARLOW. 

Sec. and Treas. Foreign Chapter, 

Bridgeport Comfort Club. 

33 



NINTH LETTER. 

November 3rd, 1918. 
Hello Central, 

Hello, Hello. I say. 

Give me toll line, I want to talk to America. 
Oui, Oui, toute de suite, monsieur. 

Never mind the we, we stuff. Hello, Hello America, yes 
sure I want to. 1 want to talk to my Comfort Club girls at. Hello 
Bridgeport. What? You don't know me? Why 1 am that sol- 
dier fellow that was the guide on our hike over here, when you 
paid us that visit. Guess we didn't extinguish ourselves on that 
trip, for to have so many ladies around was so unusual, that we 
did not show you many things of interest. Why w^e even forgot 
Micky the Mope, our dog. Sure it is just a plain yeller dog, but 
we love him all the same, for there's not a drop of Deutsch- 
hound in him, though he has been more asleep than ever, since 
his best friend, Harry Monahan, went to get his broken wrist 
fixed up. No one knows just what breed Micky is, but Rip Mor- 
gan claims him to be a cross between a w^indow shutter and the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

By George, yes, and right down at the foot of the hill was 
Lieut. Sprague and his big steam cootie machine, that Jerry's 
observers must have taken for a tank, for they let go a few big 
ones pretty close to it and maybe that company of fellows, 
who were taking a bath at the time, didn't beat it over the hill, 
a la September morn. 

We should have shown you the church, too, that was our 
dressing station. Gee, they had so many fires in it and smoke 
coming out most every window, that you probably would think 
it was one of Crane's foundries. Lands, yes, they had so much 
steam there, that it would have been foolish to ever put a bell 
on it, why not use a whistle. 

It was just this way. Down there one day, there were two 
men working under their truck, when the first shell came over. 
Mr. Hough, he beat it. Joe yells, 'Hey, Ned, come back here." 
Second shell goes whango. (Nothing said) third shell lands 
nearer. Oh boy, that Wynkoop fellow had passed Ned and 
was kicking two rabbits along that had started up in his path 
and so he says between breaths, "Gee Whiz, Bunnie, if you 
can't run, get out of the way, and let someone that can." 

It seems as if most every place that friend Heinie has to 
leave in a hurry, we find large numbers of rabbits and we could 
not understand it at first, till one day, Lee Hull was driving by 
some artillery and he saw right away that a leather neck has to 

34 



be a good mathematician, so naturally has the rabbits for pets, 
for ain't they rapid multipliers? But the hard one to figure out 
was why some wearers of Sam Browns, that never got near a 
horse or mule, persist in wearing spurs, so one day Bert Keane 
and Mook Vennart were around in their motor cycles, and we 
asked them, and Mook says right ciway, "Hee Hee, to keep 
their feet from rolling off the desk." 

Well, one that fooled us for a long time was, how^ a certain 
mule down in the valley below^ us aWays seemed to know be- 
fore we did when ever there was gas in the air. So they kept 
watch down there and found that the mice around the picket 
line, on smelling the gas, would run up the legs of this old mule 
and this tickled him so. Oh say, maybe that mule couldn't bray, 
too. (There's a red flare up for Winsted.) 

But what has that to do with the Boche wounded when 
they come in our place once in a while and Brendle, Weist, 
Kuhn, Davis, Nuss, Gillrich and Deutsch all start parley vooing 
Dutch to them so fast they must think they are in the old Fath- 
erland, and another place this same bunch used to shine, was 
when they had their favorite fruit, saurkraut, for supper. 

Well, we stayed in towns a while longer, not much doing, 
only Radikin had a letter fom his rich Uncle, what lives on the 
main stem down at Noo York, and saying to be sure and fetch 
him some souvenir home. Now, Rad, he thought at first of a 
nice wheel off a 2 1 for Uncle's watch fob, till one day he and 
Crump were going down the road in that chariot of theirs and 
Rad he spots one of those little dinkey engines. Ah, just the 
thing. Yes, he brought it back all hunkadory, hooked it right 
off the track with his front fender. 

Once in a while the Kamerad boys would send over a 
flock of Krupp calling cards up on the hill near our place, till 
we thought maybe they were laying a metal carpet on those 
lots, but they were only wasting good money, like the man with 
the palsied arm did, when he bought the wound chevrons for 
his six sons. 

Now lately, most every mess, some officer would come 
around and read us some' letters from the jigadier brindles in 
the A. E. F. about the work we w^ere doing and you know we 
had had that taffy pulled on us before, so we knew that be- 
fore long we would be on our wa3''. No, not to a rest camp, but 
to another front and sure enough we did, and right away they 
posted a big long list of our fellows that had been cited in re- 
cent orders, but 1 am not going to mention them all here, as 
every man in the company did his best. 

Don't forget either, folks, that after the war, Newtown's 

35 



ballot will read, Hub Beers, Mayor; Jimmy Peck and Jesse 
James, Sheriff and Constable, respectively. Gosh, you know 
when Jim first heard those peace flutterings from the peace 
doves, he says right away, "Well, I hope they send us home in 
one of those concrete boats, for my old man had a steam boat 
up home and you couldn't tip er over." 

Vernon Peck he had to go back to the hospital again. 

By Golly, that old saying, that everything comes to him 
who Waits, came true alright, for on October 1 1 th, we were 
paid thirty francs each from the Pershing Fund money that you 
good people raised last Fourth of July. Someone must have had 
the back gears thrown in on that money, till it began to look 
like one of those deferred payment policies, but anyway we 
have it and we w^ant to thank you that had any part in it. 

Up at this place where we received the money, in one of 
the field hospitals near us, was a British Tommy, in all his re- 
galia. We looked up his case and found that by a mistake of 
some clerk, he was sent from a classification camp to F. H. 
No. I 00-A. E. F. instead of F. H. No. I 00-B. E. F., and for 
two months he had to stay there, and the best of it was, he was 
writing home to his mother that he didn't mind it and had 
gained several pounds. Well she didn't worry, for she thought 
he meant in weight. 

A few days later who do you think we met? You'd never 
guess, so I will tell you. It w^as Sergt. Riley, of the U. S. of 
America and France. Isn't he a brick? One couldn't help but 
like him and he sure likes you folks and is mighty proud of 
Bridgeport. Oh yes, he told us all about you, that your Com- 
fort Club was the only one of its kind in the East, and anyway 
we know it is the best one. He sure got a gang of snickers out 
of this bunch w^hen he said you folks in America called the 
Naval Reserves 'The Ladies of the Lake." 

Yes, Mam, it is true that Frank Deutsch is a sergeant, and 
so are Jimmy Morrell and Hughey Lawlor, but don't hold it 
against them, for some sergeants are alright, and listen folks, 
don't make the terrible mistake of addressing mail to Morten- 
sen, Swartz or Vanlindingham as Privates So-and-So, for they 
are real honest to goodness corporals now and are to be obeyed 
and respected as such. Oh no, you do not have to salute them. 
Mort didn't know what to do at first as he couldn't get any 
chevrons, so now they rip off their two service stripes, turn 'em 
up side down and they loom up fine, too. 

Walter Scott is back with us from the hospital, but Mars- 
ten had to go in on account of his rheumatism and Bob 

36 



MacDonald from exhaustion, also the fellow I referred to in 
our very first letter. 

We want also to thank you and the Telegram for your 
efforts in regard to our drill money. The fault was our own, as 
the Telegram proves, our clerks were not onto their jobs, so 
now we are going to get some old National Guard vouchers, if 
possible and may get it yet. 

We have tried and tried to think of some suggestions to 
send you in regard to things to put in those 3x6x9 packages 
and every one has different ideas, and anyway they are too 
small for a pie or one of Ma's chocolate walnut cakes, but here's 
a thing I am sure would make a hit. If you, by hook or crook, 
could get hold of some of those slips of paper that Uncle Sam 
gives out that makes a fellow promenade up to Meigs and get 
a blue serge suit and a derby hat, then throw his khaki in the 
nearest manhole, w^hy just slide some in, down in one corner 
of the box, and if your name doesn't go down in the Hall of 
Fame, then the Kaiser ain't eating goose for Thanksgiving, for 
we cooked his for him over a month ago. 

Jerry's gang doesn't seem to make good as bird fanciers, 
for just when he had his peace doves all trained and ready to 
go out to each nation and wrap the world all up in a little pink 
ribbon, why someone gums the works and the one that lit in 
the good old U. S. A. turned out to be a game rooster, and to 
cap the climax, I'll be gum swizzled, if his turkey hasn't flew 
the coop. 

Lieut. Comfort, of New Haven, always was a regular 
fellow to us, but now he is the most popular man in this A. E. 
F. (All Excellent Fellows) gang, for he turned that captured 
Boche ambulance over to our company and Goodnov/ is run- 
ning it and Corp. Davis was reduced to a private at his own 
request, just to be an orderly on it. 

Sorensen, Watt, Francolini, Murphy, Smith and Brodsky 
have all been transferred as medical men to the infantry, but 
we see them often as they are near by. 

This sure is a fine old world to live in just at present, for 
things of world wide interest follow one another in such rapid 
succession that no one can figure out just what the next few 
hours will bring to light, and this is the kind of life the average 
Yank likes and like Barnum's Circus, that silver lining to this 
old war cloud is looming up bigger and better all the time, but 
don't quit or get excited, stick to your knittin' folks, till the full 
count of ten over old Bill, then we can rest assured of the abso- 
lute finish of that "Me und Gott" corporation. And when the 
time conties for us to depart to America and that gal with the 

37 



old style flare outside New York welcomes us home, why our 
spirits will be so high, we can just let the boat coast down hill 
from there in and as we pass that Island, we are going to drop 
off a detail of two men to whisper in her ear, that although she 
is a nice girl and we like her, if she ever sees us again, she will 
have to throw up very many lights and then do an about face 
and even then she may get answered with a hob nail barrage. 
Come on, come on. Old Man, rise and shine. Oh there's 
Cockerton, it's reveille again for 

DICK BARLOW. 
Sec. and Treas., Foreign Chapter, 
Bridgeport Comfort Club. 



TENTH LETTER. 

November, 1918. 

Just a few after thoughts to my letter of the Third. 

Some spoke of sending money or useful things to our 
Connecticut boys, who are prisoners in Germany. I find that 
the Red Cross are to send each one a package for Xmas, 
6x9x1 1, I believe the law allows them, and also their friends 
can send them one package a month. So what we have talked 
of is to send the Home Office of the Red Cross at Paris, say 
200 francs, to help them pay for the things they send the boys 
in prison camps, and as soon as I get back to the company, I 
shall try to have the boys let me do this. 

Also someone has spoken of getting the size of the clothes 
that our orphans wear. It can't be did, for we'll say shoes for 
instance, a man's shoes over here are numbers 41 to 45. The 
best way to do would be to send small amounts of money at 
different times and let the mothers do as they think best. Little 
Marie, whom 1 saw, is rather small for eleven, and rather frail, 
while not sickly or serious, still her little sad face does not 
bespeak the best of health. You know the money the Red 
Cross gives the children, that was raised by different com- 
panies in the A. E. F., is not lumped, but dished out either 
weekly or monthly, and this does not allow for very much 
misuse. Marie Louise's Mother is a very rugged woman, I 
should say about thirty-five, and has one younger child who is 
a little cross-eyed, but very strong, more like the mother. Mrs. 
Decollas seemed to wonder what she should do after the boys 
went home or our year was up, so 1 shall try and remember and 
no doubt our gang will be glad to remember our kids, when the 
right time comes. 

38 



When we divide our money which the Comfort Club has 
sent us, we shall pay the recently transferred men, that I men- 
tioned in my last letter, as they were with us when we received 
the next to the last check, and we haven't cashed that as yet. 

And I want to say right now that I am proud to be a mem- 
ber of a bunch of boys that are of such a calibre that they have 
gone ahead conscientiously and made a name for themselves, 
and after all we are only just w^hat our Mothers made us, for 
there are more of these boys who say that little childhood 
prayer, "Now 1 lay me down to sleep" than you would ever 
think there were, and as they do their thoughts are liftec^Jiome- 
ward and to their good Mothers, the fundamental bedrock of a 
nation. 

Some twenty or more men direct from God's Country 
have been sent to our company, seven of them had not been 
paid in from tw^o to five months, so the boys had me give 
*hem 10 francs each from our funds. 

Lieut. Sprague is in command of an ambulance company 
next to ours now. Wish it could have been ours. 

SAME OLD DICK, 
102nd Ambulance Company 



ELEVENTH LETTER. 

"Sarrey, France, 

Dec. 16, 1918. 
"Afternoon Folks: — 

"As I promised, may I try and tell you how a soldier, was 
handled after being wounded and gassed. Let's start back 
along in October, after we had left the St. Mihiel 'sector' and 
we were most into the city of Verdun. We had heard so much 
of the terrible fighting that had taken place there, that we were 
surprised to see the city in such good condition, especially the 
southern end of it. 

"The cathedral and girls' seminary, although shattered, 
were still standing. A wireless tower and also large three or 
four stone barracks, one mile from the city, where we were 
billetted were still standing. These last buildings, previous to 
the war, were used as a great artillery school by the French 
and outside of a few good sized air holes seemed very little 
damaged. The infantry were billetted over in the great citadel 
absolutely bomb proof, if that be possible, regular underground 
city, clean white tunnels running in all directions as far as the 
eye could carry, people going in, horses pulling narrow gauge 

39 



cars of supplies in and out, stores, etc, all below the ground. 

"Heinic had been driven so far away now, that only a 
stray long distance shell now and then came into the city, just 
a reminder that Jerry still had the range of the city on their old 
artillery score board. 

"Well, when it came our turn to go up we were sent to a 
point some 1 or 15 kilometers away and known as Death 
Valley. This was sure our worst front. Men that won honors 
at the Chemin des Dames and the Toul front, only went 
through a Sunday School picnic at Beardsley Park compared 
to this. 

"Now just a word about those shells Jerry used to send 
over. What I mean there were beaucoup of them at times, and 
oh yes, of course, we ourselves threw over a few, too. Shells 
can almost be compared to persons in some ways, for they 
each have their different characteristics. Some men 
walk up and swat you, some make a lot of noise about it and 
some don't, while others make a lot of noise and don't swat 
you. Now an Austrian '88' sneaks up behind a fellow without 
saying a word, then whizz bang! It's away down in the seat of 
your breeches before it says a w^ord and w^hen you get up off 
your stomach if there isn't a first aid man working on you, why 
it missed you. Go ahead and try to make the next dug-out. 

"Now what they call a G. 1. can, one of those old big 
babies, comes across, whish whash, whash whish, as if it was 
a hogshead of molasses going over, why they seem to go so 
slow and to fairly hang in the air, as you lie there on your back, 
in a little place you have dug in the bank, and when those 
babies let go, oh boy, the air is full of stove lids, monkey 
wrenches and everything up to an upright piano. A gas shell > 
Oh, they don't make much noise, just a little 'putt,' like opening 
a bottle of (well, whatever you ordered), but those blamed 
things hang around and hang around. Oh, they are mean 
cusses, and you know those shells with the timers on 'em, re- 
member the one with that alarm clock dingus on the bow and 
a lot of little numbers all scattered around loose like, that are 
supposed to get so many certain numbered Yanks. A lot of 
fellows were lucky and must have draw^n blanks, for every 
once in a while a *dud' comes over, throws up a lot of dirt, but 
does nothing only scare a man half to death. 

"Sometimes you are between Jerry and our own artillery 
and each side is putting over a pretty good barrage and so 
many shells go singing over, high in the air. Sure they sing 
about and rather enjoy it and it seems you could almost see 
them as they pass the moon and there are so many of them up 

40 



there, it seems some of them must 'head on,' for surely there 
are no M. P.'s up there. 

"Pardon me, I am getting away from my text. Shells seem 
as gentle as can be, as they lie along side the road with only a 
wooden or cork plug to keep their noses clean — the leather- 
necks 'treat them rough* so it almost scares you, but when they 
pull those plugs out and put in those timers, they act as nervous 
as can be and jump at the least excitement. Why just the sight 
of a gunner pulling a lanyard they will jump terrible distances, 
and just as you think they have taken it as a joke they will burst 
into an aw^ful wrath and fly all over the nearest body of men 
and they don't show any partiality about it either. Generals and 
K. P.'s all look the same to them. 

"Now if any variety of these shells has happened to get 
you, the nearest first aid man will fix you up, and the litter 
bearers will carry you back, but if you are able 'beat it* your- 
self for the nearest dressing station. And the chances are you 
have been wallowing around in the mud for the last 1 days 
and all the while your beard has been growing and you look 
a dead ringer for Billy Watson or Lew Welsh. Here they will 
fix you up, put a tag on you, and as soon as the shelling lets up 
the litter-bearers will carry you down to the road where an am- 
bulance is waiting, or if you can walk, you surely must do so, 
for here is where every man must show the most stuff he has in 
him. 

"Well, cut that old float loose, there, Goodnow, all are 
ready. Away she goes down the road, two litter patients and 
six or eight sitting; every once in a while Heinie drops one over 
on the road and you may get another wound on the way in, for 
they love a Red Cross flag like a bull loves a red flag. Well you 
hang on for dear life, for the car is going over shell holes ga- 
lore, with once in a while the legs or neck of a dead horse or 
mule thrown in. Then when you have made the ambulance 
company dressing station you can get your wound redressed if 
it needs it, leave your pack, rifle, and all equipment, except the 
toilet articles you need at the hospital and all? the money you 
have, 

"They give you a cigarette or cup of cocoa, and record 
you in their books, put you in another ambulance, for the 
car that fetched you has already gone back for another load, 
and this has been the V'/ork your boys have done for the last 
1 months, litter bearing to the ambulances, driving ambu- 
lance to the dressing stations and dressing wounds at the sta- 
tion. 

41 



"Off we go to the field hospital, which usually is really a 
sifting station. That is, gassed men are sent to one hospital, sick 
and wounded to others. Gassed men are bathed there, their 
hair cut short, other clothes are given you, and slightly wound- 
ed or sick, that can be returned to duty in a few days, are held 
here. 

"All the rest go on to some base hospital near the railroad 
and from there are forwarded to all the great hospitals in 
France, aboard those real American hospital trains, that have 
engines on them with an honest to goodness whistle and a 
slightly hump-backed sneaky look about it, as though it was go- 
ing to get somewhere once it got started. All aboard, tw^o in a 
berth, sleep head to feet, and in the day time fold up the bunk 
into a nice comfortable seat. 

"Heads up, by Golly, there is an American Red Cross 
nurse coming through, and you catch yourself staring at her in a 
half worshippy way, for you hain't been seeing many women 
folks for months. Then the fellow that feeds us comes around 
and those poor cusses all along the sides that are litter patients, 
they try to switch around into half comfortable propped up po- 
sitions, so that they can manage, then someone hollers some- 
thing about a duck and we who have been fetched up in the 
country and not having spent any time in a hospital, we gaped 
out the window looking for ducks, but we soon "ketched on" 
that it wasn't birds they meant. 

"After a while you reach your destination. Perhaps it is 
Paris, maybe it's Limoges, or even Bordeaux. All out, and once 
inside Base "oughty-ought," you get a bath and they rig you out 
in pajamas, all colors, styles, and sizes, some fellows looked like 
prisoners, some like the wrestlers. Bill Adams used to bring on 
down at the Y. M. C. A. But girls, when they put you in one of 
those sure to goodness B-E-D-S, with sheets, pillows, 'en every- 
thing,' and this is the first time you have had your clothes off in 
a month, and you snuggle down out of sight, you mutter some- 
thing to the nurse about burning up your clothes for the war 
must be over. 

"But as you lie there day after day, your mind goes back 
and the tears come to your eyes for those lads that you had 
bunked and buddied with and you knew were better than you, 
but they were bum.ped off, and must lie forever in a grave far 
from their loved ones. And, then as you improve, Heinie 
signs the armistice and you know you are a lucky fellow to 
have come out of the war alive, and you feel and know that 
with all its hardships you are a bigger, better, more tender- 
hearted man for having come over here. 

42 



"Just a moment! Are there any cornfeds in the house? If 
there is, please stand up, thank you. Say remember when you 
and I were on the farm and the rooster used to crov/ in the 
morning, then down the road or over across the lot, half a 
dozen other roosters would keep answering his challenge, well 
it sure got a laugh out of us when the rooster in the next yard 
to the hospital heard the French engine whistling around the 
freight yard, and mistaking them for other roosters, kept crow- 
ing all the morning 

"Once you get so you can get around, you begin to long 
to get back to the old bunch again and you whisper something 
in some 'Loot's* ear about fixing it up so you can get back to 
your outfit, and he tells you, 'Sure, Buddy, I can fix it up so that 
you will go straight back,' and you fall for it, and away you go 
to the classification camp, where you get fitted up with all 
equipment. They sure have some system here. Why about six 
lines go in all at once, walk right along down the line, just hold 
out your arms and the first f ellow^ you pass throws a shelter half 
at you, the next a blouse, another a shirt and so it goes, tent 
pins, pole, leggins, belt, cap, etc., all come flying out of the air 
and as you pass the last lad, he drops in an extra pair of hob- 
nails, then you put your John Hancock on a slip of paper and 
out the back door you go. Some fellows only had half their 
things, when a whistle blew and all the clerks quit for dinner, 
like in a shop at home. All you can do is to stand and wait a 
half hour or more, curse under your breath about the blue but- 
ton S. O. S. birds, for back here all the fellows attached to 
camps of this kind must wear a blue button on their caps. 

"Next chow^ call blows and you fall in line, four abreast, 
two or three thousand all go through the same mess hall and 
usually you are fed inside of a hour, then fall in line and wash 
mess kits. Maybe there's 50 ahead of you, and then if you hap- 
pen to have been lucky and have a few francs that you haven't 
spent for 'vin blink* or lost in a crap game, why you can get in 
line at the Y. M. C. A. or commissary. As soon as we are all set, 
they start us for our companies — (only they don't) — for you 
wind up at one of those so called 'rest camps' and here you get 
held up, tv/o, three and maybe four w^eeks. No passes, no mail, 
and you don't know a soul out of the five or six thousand that 
are here. 

Once in a while someone comes around and fills you up 
about going home as a casual and you fall for it and figure that 
next Friday you will go out to one of those Comfort Club meet- 
ings. Then you pack up and go back to your company. Oh, 

43 



ain't it a grand and glorious feeling! You read your mail, look 
over your old barracks bag that has just been returned after 
having been stored all summer — you find one of those red- 
cross sweaters, and soime postal cards of LifFol that the censor 
wouldn't let us send. (But he is getting to be a pretty good 
fellow of late). 

"And Lieut. Sprague has been made a captain and the fel- 
lows are coming back every day from the hospitals already in- 
cluded Hannon, O'Connell, Wyrtzen, Widinghoff, Marsten, 
Foley, Adams, Davis, Ferris and Dickens. Yes, and there are 
some of our old trench fever boys back with us again. Good. 
Hello, Worley, Lambert, Willis, Schaeffer, Elliano, Watkins, 
Murphy and Vassel, and if there isn't Louis Hough. Well, I 
swan, it looks like old times, even have wooden barracks, just 
like we did at Liflol last winter. All the boys had received their 
checks and Pop Brendle, Harry Edes, Hub Beers, Ralph Carle- 
ton and Sergt. Lieberum are aw^ay on permission, look for 
heavy casualties in the French papers especially among the 
madamoiselles, for that combination will sure knock 'em dead. 

"What do you know, we were not in the army of Occupa- 
tion. Since w^e left 'em at Verdun, we were shifted over to the 
right and fell into it soft, had a dandy big dugout, large enough 
for the entire company, even electric lights and running water. 
Some luck. But it was too good to last, for soon after the arm- 
istice was signed we started on a ten day hike, and I'll be 
switzed if we didn't wind up away down here near Langres, in 
the little town of Sarrey, where every little home makes the 
dandiest hand made knives and scissors one could wish to see. 

"On reaching here there was a check of one hundred dol- 
lars waiting for us, that the Sons of Veterans had sent and two 
days later a check from the Comfort club. Hey, Bill Larson, 
will you go down to that little store and see if you can buy a 
clothes basket? We have no lights in the barracks, so buy can- 
dles with the money you have sent us, also matches, cigarettes, 
scrubbing brushes, a meat cutter for the kitchen, extra cans of 
milk. Each man in our company we have given five francs as 
a little Xmas present, and have also sent a Xmas present of 25 
francs each to our two orphans. 

"We have only two ambulances now, Banks and McElroy 
on one and Pinney and Mills on tother. Also our trucks have 
been turned in, so Ned Hough, Rip Morgan, Joe Wynkoop 
and Pomeroy all have to carry a pack for a change. Saturday 
we had a football game, lost out 6 to to the 1 04th Ambulance 
company. Our line-up was Marsten, Merrill, Whitlinger, Wilcox, 

44 



Claire, McDonald, Waite, Wilk, Stewart, Worley, Bergeron 
and C. Morgan. 

"Xmas boxes have not started to come in as yet, but 
here's hoping. 

"All the boys have had blue Y. D.s sewed on the left 
sleeve of their blouses, also their two service stripes on the 
same sleeve, while quite a few have a wound stripe on the op- 
posite sleeve, gassed counts as a wound. 

"We hear quite a bit about that reception we are to have, 
but don't fuss much for us, just stand clear of the pantry door, 
that's all, 

"Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all the world 
from the men of the 1 02nd Ambulance company. 

"DICK BARLOW, 

Secretary and Treasurer, 
"Foreign Chapter, 
"Bridgeport Comfort Club." 



November 29th, 1918. 
The Bridgeport Comfort Club, 
Dear Mothers: — 

Thank you for the most welcome gift received this date 
by us boys over here, I can assure you it has been appreciated 
by all. During the fifteen months in France, us boys have gone 
through it and have made good, the 1 02nd has gone over the 
top with the good old Y. D., 26th New England Division; but 
at the same time the Bridgeport Comfort Club has done the 
same, and in the eyes of the 1 02nd Ambulance Company, the 
Comfort Club has more than gone over for the 1 02nd Ambu- 
lance Company, the purely made in Bridgeport Organization. 

Our ten months at the front has not been peaches and 
cream, as the boys would say, but we knew that a certain or- 
ganization, away across the big pond, made up of the Mothers. 
Wives, Sisters and Sweethearts of the 1 02nd Ambulance Com- 
pany boys, were back of us 'tous jours" and we knew that we 
had to make good with such wonderful support in the good 
old U. S. A. Thank you again. I remain, one of the boys of 
the 1 02nd Ambulance Company, 

Sergeant JAMES W. MORRELL. 

P. S. — Enclosed find one of the commendations received 
by this organizations, while in France, for our service. 

45 



Headquarlersp 2Gth Division 
Office of DivisioHi Surgeon. 

16th Nov., 1918. 
FROM: Division Surgeon, 26th Division 
TO: Officers and Men of the Ambulance Section, 101st 

Sanitary Train. (Thru C. O., 101st Sanitary Train.) 
SUBJECT: Commendation 

1 . At the close of active operations, the writer feels 
under an agreeable obligation to express to you in the most 
sincere language he is capable of using, which is absolutely in- 
adequate to the occasion, his congratulations on the superb 
service you have rendered. 

2. The duties of the Ambulance Section are the back- 
bone of the Divisional Medical Service, and if it had failed, no 
amount of effort or sacrifice on the part of the Division could 
have compensated. 

3. You have been on the job and delivered the goods 
under all conditions and in spile of all handicaps. Your work 
has been a decisive factor in the successes of the Division. 

4. There can be, and is, to my mind, no finer organiza- 
tion in the A. E. F. than the Ambulance Section of the 1 1 st 
Sanitary Train. You are absolutely the Corps d'Elite of the 
Division, and I feel that there is nothing I can do or say for 
you individually and collectively that half expresses my deep 
feelings on the subject. 

5. You can have the proud consciousness of having per- 
formed to the tip-top of efficiency your important share of the 
campaign that has led to America's victory, may you succeed 
as well at home in the pursuits of peace. 

(Signed) R. S. PORTER, 
Colonel, N. C. 
RSP e Division Surgeon 



In a recent scene of action, this division won back con- 
siderable land w^hich has for the past four years been held by 
the Huns. While w^e were there, or rather just before we left 
there to advance, we noticed the church bells ring for the first 
time since we had been there. Several of our French-speaking 
troops spoke about it to the French soldiers in that town and 
we were told that it was the first time that they had rung in 
four years. There w^ere no civilians in the town, but under the 
circumstances the French soldiers will ring the bell at the times 
it is supposed to be rung until the civilians come back to live 
there. The French are very religious you know, and that is 

46 



their custom; to ring the bells whether there is anyone living 
there or not. There was a Cure (a French Priest) who had 
lived there nearly all the time to hold services for the soldiers 
there and after our successful work there, he wrote the follow- 
ing letter, which I will censor myself, to our Commanding 
General (General Edwards). 

Name of town, 
September 13. 1918. 
"Sir. 

Your gallant twenty-sixth American division has just set 
us free. Since September 1914, the barbarians have held the 
heights of the Meuse, have foully murdered three hostages from 
Mouilly, have shelled Rupt, and, on July 23, 1915, forced its 
inhabitants to scatter to the four corners of France. 

I, who remain at my little listening post upon the advice 
of my Bishop, feel certain. Sir, that I do but speak for the 
Monseigneur Ginisty, Lord Bishop of Verdun, my parishioners 
of Rupt, Mouilly, and Genicourt and the people of this vicinity 
in conveying to you and your associates the heartfelt and unfor- 
getable gratitude of all. 

Many of your comrades lie at rest in our truly Christian 
and French soil. Their ashes shall be cared for as if they were 
our own. We shall cover their graves with flowers and shall 
kneel by them as their own families would do. with a prayer to 
God to reward with eternal glory these heroes fallen on the 
field of honor, and to bless the twenty-sixth division and 
generous America. 

Be pleased. Sir, to accept the expression of my profound 
respect. 

(Signed) A. LECLERC, 

Cure of ." 



47 



TWELFTH LETTER 

Marigne, Sarthe, France, 

2 7 Kilos to Le Mans, 

March 15, 1919. 
Dear Friends: — 

Have not written you since the New Year, as we had 
hoped that before now we would be promenading on the main 
stem of the old town, renewing acquaintances, looking over the 
new things of interest, such as the new Stratford Avenue 
bridge, the bath house at Seaside, the bank buildings, etc., 
that have been completed since we went away. There has been 
very little doing of late and we did not intend to write further, 
but our turn does not seem to come very fast, and most every- 
one is getting some sort of a permission and it is about these 
that I want to tell you. 

This like my trip to the hospital, is not that it is I but the 
fact that hundreds of other fellows are having the same experi- 
ence that may make it of interest. 

First let me give you some ancient history, then work 
along up to the present time. After President and Mrs. Wilson, 
General Pershing and some others had visited us at Sarrey and 
Bob Stew^art had show^ed them our billet and explained every- 
thing to them except a couple of places where v/e had camou- 
flaged some dirty clothes, and Mrs. Wilson had made a hit 
with us by saying that w^e v/ere some of the boys she had been 
praying for and we had promised that gentleman with the most 
radiant smile w^e had ever seen, that w^e would sure pay back 
the visit, we then on Jan. 3rd padiecl up and moved from 
Sarrey, (pronounced Sorry, only we v/asn't, ) down 12 kilo- 
meters to the little town of Baine, still in Haute Marne. We 
stayed there about three weeks. We had a track meet on Jan. 
1 1th, our company winning out by four points over the 103rd. 
Pop Brendle was as usual our individual star, while Cater and 
Rice, two of our new men, showed up well in the races. That 
town was some ten kilometers from the city of Langres, which 
is a walled city set upon a hill and having a mountain climbing 
railway to get from its railway station up into the city. Our 
fellows used to hike to this city quite often. 

Then on Jan. 2 1 st we started to move again, some over- 
land with full packs and others in some ambulances that had 
just been returned to us, the latter going clear through to this 
town near LeMans, while the rest hiked some 45 kilos in two 
days, slept outdoors all night, Jan. 23rd, away over at Vitrey, 

48 



while waiting to entrain, which we did at nine the next A. M. 
Won three box cars for our company, thirty men to a car. One 
was a Boche car that had just been turned over to France and 
was a pip, — heavy well made car, better than the usual French 
cars, and we have noticed hundreds of them since in the differ- 
ent freight yards and they are all well made. 

We detrained at Ecommoy, hiked five kilos more to reach 
this nifty little burg of Marigne that we are still in and for once 
we are in luck, for it is no doubt the best town in the divisional 
area and the cleanest town we have been billeted in. We ar- 
rived here Jan. 25th and have hopes of going direct from here 
to our port of embarkation. 

This town has only twelve to fifteen hundred population 
but during the war has had forty nine men killed and ten miss- 
ing. They seem very pleased that we are here, and this being 
the apple section of France, why of course cider is trotted out 
for all favors, the seven saloons are open at all hours to civi- 
lians, but to members of the A.. E. F. only from 1 0:30 to 1 and 
from 5 to 9, but no beer is or has been for sale and their hard 
stuff — cognac, eau de vie, pinaud and the rest — have too 
blamed much "authority" to them. 

On arriving here we had ten G. M. C. ambulances and 
also two pairs of horses were handed over to us. Pomeroy 
pulled the ribbons over one pair while Ted Gilliland had the 
ether. Two w^eeks later these horses were passed on to some 
other company and we were given six more ambulances, as our 
company must do ail evacuation for the divisional area now^, 
instead of each company doing its share. Here our billets are 
scattered all over the town, Wilcox has his ambulance men in 
one end of the town, while Foley and his bunch have a farm 
away out the other way, still others in an ex-cabaret, hall or 
theatre billet as it is called in the center of the town. So in this 
latter place we have had a couple of company shows and 
dances. We have had for our leading features the I 02nd 
Amb. Co. orchestra composed of H. P. Davis, E. Davis, Wi- 
dinghofF, Kenney, Worley, Avallon, Phillips and usually 
Diorio, now of the 1 04th and our double quartet made up of 
Stewart, Deutsch, Morrell, Avallon, Wall, Wright, Hannon 
and Swartz. 

To have a feed in this small town, as in most small towns, 
one must go to the Boucherie, buy your meat, then go next 
door or across the street and have it fried along with some 
potatoes and bread. To get the bread the French lady must 
have a bread ticket, and for each customer the Boulangerie has 

49 



a small round stick of wood about eighteen inches long whit- 
tled off flat for a couple of inches on one end for the cus- 
tomer's name, and for each loaf dupain a notch is cut in the 
stick, and this is how they keep their books, the same as some 
Westerners used to knick the stock of their rifles every time 
they shot a man. 

To get a shave be sure and keep your mouth closed for 
the "coiffeur" doesn't rub the lather in with his hand but with 
the brush and the way they go at it — well, take the tip, if you 
don't want your teeth cleaned and also your throat sw^abbed. 

Then once a week the towns have a market day, when all 
the folks for miles around pile into their two wheeled carts, 
take along a few things to sell, or if they don't have a cart, they 
promenade in, as they call it, with a basket full of chickens or 
rabbits, then set up shop on the village square, most every- 
thing on the calendar being for sale. 

Aside from the accident that Banks and McElroy had, 
when some driver left his disabled truck in the road without 
lights and Silent Mac had to go in with his jaw fractured in two 
places, the fellows have kept exceptionally well, despite the 
fact that several civilians have died with the Flu. None of our 
boys have had it; guess we haven't stopped doing four's east 
and squads round about long enough to let a germ light. And 
our new bath house where ten can go in at once has helped us 
to get rid of friend "coot." 

Among the fellows that went from here down to that 
dance at Tours were Town Mayor Deutsch, Rad, Bob Mc- 
Donald, Wills, Beers, Banks and Geer, all had a fine time. 

Since we have come here most of the clothing issued is of 
the jinkey variety, that is long breeches and an extra heavy 
pair of shoes with toe plates on them that are known as the 
Pershing last and we hope they will be ours, for we believe 
now more than ever in that slogan "See America First." 

On February 19 th we had our Divisional review by Gen- 
eral Pershing and it sure was a humdinger, regular West Point 
stuff, and the General impressed us all very deeply by his sit- 
ting his snappy little white mount so well, and also in his walk 
through mud over ditches for over two hours. He personally 
inspected every officer and man, not losing a minute, tiring 
out several of his staff, and we could not help but admire the 
snap and pep for one of his years. Hope he won't ever see this 
letter for he would surely w^ant to make me a corporal or 
something. Modest, that's me all over, Mabel. 

50 



Well, the old Y. D. showed that they could drill if they 
want to and the more one sees of these Yanks the more proud 
he gets, so we should never mind about this service stripe argu- 
ment. Put en in a crowd mix em up, and we will pick out a 
Y. D. man every time. How, you say? In his air, in his attitude 
of "who in the w^orld has anything on us?" His face borders on 
the hard boiled, for he has been through seven hells, but seems 
to say "Treat me white, for I've learned my lesson in the 
Brotherhood of Men and I'll spot your first sign of deceit or in- 
sincerity," in his speech is a tone of seriousness, in his eye is 
the look of a clean man, a man who has been tempered and 
mellowed by scenes of the past year, his is a heart all loyal. "A 
man worth while." How do you like them for apples? 

We have two men from our company looking after the 
sanitary train canteen, two men at the amusement tent, three 
men, Lee Hull, John Safko and LeRoy McKinnon with the 
Red Cross and several others on duty with ambulances with the 
1 02nd Field Hospital. 

Men in our company in the new bugle corp for the train 
are Ballard, Kw^ansniski, Pomeroy, Denson, Keane and Lilley. 
Yes, and Harry Monahan is back from the hospital and there 
go fourteen new men being transferred to other outfits and on 
the other side of the road are Capt. Durham, Lewis Hough, 
Ferris, Kenny and Osborne waiting for transportation, for they 
are going to school for a few months special course in this 
country and those men with packs are men going on permis- 
sion. Ah, that's it, I knew there was something I was going to 
tell you. There are four classes of passes, first three, twenty 
four hour, three day and fourteen day permissions. You name 
the city you want to go to, buS not to Paris or out of the country, 
give the reason for going and must pay your own bills. Fourth 
variety is a duty status pass of seven days to some leave area, 
and your Uncle Sam pays all the bills. There are some nineteen 
different leave areas already established in France, but most of 
our men have been sent to St. Malo. The trip by train is the 
only bad parts of the trip. St. Malo on the Brittany coast with 
all its deep sea legends, noted for its brave sailors and adven- 
turous fishermen, appeals to many, for there one can buy any- 
thing most that you at home can buy, even to an ice cream 
soda and top it off with a beer if you wish. Among those who 
have been or now are at St. Malo are Martin Clarks, Stan 
Glover, Bill Larson, Jim O'Connel, Radikin, Walter Scott, 
Cooper and also Ben Butler and Billy West from Headquart- 
ers. 

51 



The trip I won out of the grab bag was to the Haute 
Pyrennes leave area in the Pyrennes Mountains, some five hun- 
dred kilometer trip, carry your pack, and leave trains are us- 
ually made up of second and third class coaches, sleep sitting 
up if you can. Twenty eight hour trip, each way, down through 
Le Mans, Bordeaux, Pan and then into the mountains as far as 
the train can go, which in this case was Pierrefitte, then by 
electric cars up into the mountains ten kilometers over winding 
roads, deep ravines, gorges, into and out of tunnels, finally 
reaching our home for the next week in the beautiful little town 
of Canteret, altitude 3,000 feet, nestled away on a plateau, sur- 
rounded on three sides by wonderful snow capped mountains 
and only ten miles from Spain. Some twenty five hotels that 
will accomodate about 2,800 persons, all w^ere closed during 
the war but now open to men of the A. E. F. until June when 
the tourist season opens. We w^ere given fine rooms, had a 
good feed, and mind you these same places set tourists back 
nine and ten dollars a day. Then we went out to give the Y. 
M. C. A. the once over, for in a leave area they look after all 
the amusements. In this town the Y had fallen in soft into a 
most palatial ex-gambling rendevous. One enters the great 
dancing hall, then the cosy theatre and on into the reading 
room, then into the amusement room, all being luxuriously fur- 
nished, costly tapestry, panneled ceilings, massive chandeliers, 
the finest pool and billiard tables, and set off to one side and 
now robbed of its mechanism was a roulet table where twas 
said one of our well known Americans had lost a million dol- 
lars. Then you plunk down into some of the beautiful sofas 
and go most out of sight, like Denman Thompson in The Old 
Homestead, then on coming up for air, j'^ou cross your pedal 
extremities and try to assume the air that you are perfectly used 
to all these mere trifles and you dream on and on trying to 
make your self believe that you have rubbed elbows with mil- 
lionaires all your life and wish John D. Stonefeller would drift 
by about now^ and just to show him w^ho you w^ere, you 
wouldn't pay any more attention to him than as though he was 
a guy peddling shoe strings on the corner next to Lyon and 
Grummans Millinery Store. 

Then being rather tired from the trip, you go over and 
go to bed and the next morning you get up at four, put on your 
pack, go up to the top of the highest peak in sight and as you 
reach out for a souvenir to take home to the Comfort Club, — 
pardon me just a minute folks, there's a couple of guys butting 
in here and w^ant to know where I think I am getting off with 

52 



that line of stuff, "Why, old man, they won't believe that 
stuff. They know you didn't get up before breakfast and no 
buglers down there." Well, now, you two duffers, wait a min- 
ute. Who is writing this letter any how? You two are dumb 
enough to be non corns, don't you remember that phrase 
"When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do." Well we are 
in Spain, and you must know their national sport. 

Well, as I was saying, just as 1 reached out, I fell down 
and down and down and as 1 came to, 1 was on the floor, for 
two guys had rolled me out of bed, said it was eleven thirty 
and we were to mange tout sweet. 

Next day folks we actually did go up mountain climbing 
over the same route the Moors had come down, and it was 
beautiful scenery, winding paths almost straight up, cascades, 
deep gorges and beaucoup snow all drifted in the passes. We 
passed the frontier guards, on up past a little saw mill, with its 
up and down saws driven by water power, that had made the 
owner rich, but he was a typical mountaineer, even to his shoes 
made of an untanned hide and laced up with raw hide. Still 
further up we passed a cave where there was a stream of warm 
water bubbling up with a strong odor of sulphur to it and 
smelled for all the world like water that had had eggs boiled in 
it, but we didn't mind that for even that was more than we had 
been getting, but we didn't drink much for we didn't want to 
get lit away up there. Still further up was a little cabin, and for 
the life of me I don't know how they could ever build it away 
up there, unless perhaps Jerry Holmes sent it by mail. Anywaj-^ 
it had a sign out "Cognac du vente" we all looked the cabin 
over expecting to find one of those eighteen year old, blue eyed, 
golden haired damsels, fair of face and figure, usually seen in 
plays depicting such life, but there was none to be found, i 
wonder if they have been fooling us up at the Lyric? Lands, 
no, we didn't drink any cognac, cause a couple of mis-steps up 
there might mean that some Parson would be earning a dollar 
and a half in about two months by marrying our w^idow to the 
village cut up. Finally we reached the Pont de Espagne, which 
is a bridge about three miles from Spain. Here we could go no 
further, as snow had made avalanches very likely. Altitude 
here was 5,000 feet, no flowers have dared the snow, trees 
mostly conifers and the song birds have not yet come over 
from the South. Part way up can be seen herds of sheep and 
goats grazing together, while the shepherd that watches is us- 
ually a small boy or a very old lady 

53 



As you are enwrapped with all the grandeur, your mind 
goes back to some moving pictures showing similar scenes, 
with high priced actors making human bridges and daring 
jumps from point to point or over lover's leap, but with all 
their nerve you can't seem to make yourself remember of see- 
ing many of them up where the audience was mostly of the 
Allemande variety. 

Next day we tried hiking in another direction this time 
to an altitude of 4,000 feet to a barn where Queen Hortense 
of Holland, mother of Napoleon III, had stayed for two nights 
on being caught in a storm while fleeing from the French Revo- 
lutionists in 1807. We made the place and as we stood there 
getting our breath about a dozen little French girls with a mat- 
ron or two went on up past us and maybe those kids can't 
climb mountains, they sure made us look cheap. 

Down in the town were sulphur baths of all kinds, the 
water coming out of the hills at a temperature of 2 7 to 30 de- 
grees centigrad so during the week I had one of each and be- 
lieve me or not, after the second one I thought 1 felt a cootie 
bothering me and, as a searched, two of them actually flew out 
so saturated with sulphur that they looked just like lightning 
bugs. 

The best day of all was the excursion down to the city of 
Lourdes, some fifteen miles away, I wouldn't have missed that 
for anything. First you pass through the center of the city, 
where there seems to be nothing but souvenirs for sale, then 
out past the beautiful parks with their fine statuary. Then iri 
front of you looms up that massive Basilique and the Chaplain 
explains the beautiful legend of how little thirteen year old 
Bernadette Soubirione, a sufferer of asthma, had the vision 
while crossing the river Gave that she would be cured and that 
a church should be erected there, that sojourners from all the 
world could come there and derive benefit. Her mother think- 
ing that perhaps her illness had affected her mentally, forbade 
her to go there, but on the following Sunday she was allowed 
to go again and at that time the vision was repeated. So the 
civil and religious authorities built a church, this was in 1858. 
But there is no need of my explaining this for most all have 
heard it. Then as we entered the lower part of the church there 
are thousands of testimonials of thanks for benefits received, 
some in English, some in French, all carved and gilded in the 
marble walls. Also upstairs it is the same and in addition large 
numbers of souvenirs from persons benefited. Everything one 
could think of has been sent in, croix de guerres, medals of all 

54 



wars, pieces of tapestry, banners, lace, pictures, swords, 
anchors, etc., etc., till the walls have come to look most like a 
curio shop. Outside the Cathedral in the grotto or cave are 
persons at prayer, many of them cripples having faith that they 
soon be cured, the same as the fornrier owners of crutches, 
trusses, splints and plaster casts that hang from the rocks over 
head. Up on the hill on the opposite side is Le CalvaJre, where 
on its winding paths are groups of life sized bronze statues, de- 
picting the fourteen epochs in the life and crucifiction of Christ. 
At the eleventh station, showing the Roman soldiers spiking 
the feet of Christ to the cross is so real, that children have 
placed bouquets of violets upon it and fastened beads to his 
hands. Another thing of interest in this city is an old fort dat- 
ing back to the time of Caesar, it has had the flags of four dif- 
ferent nations fly from its tower. Also of interest is the railway 
up to the mountain where there is a large illuminated cross and 
outside the city a few miles is a grotto that can be entered to a 
depth of a full kilometer and is full of wondrous stalactites and 
stalagmites everything from an animal's head to a pipe organ 
and beaucoup icicles. 

Now in closing let me say, 

1 . We hope to come home soon 

2. We are not going to talk war 

3. We shall do some talking at the next primaries 

4. We are going to that Comfort Club Banquet 

5. We hope that that Man's Man" General Clarence R. 
Edwards will be there. 

And if we have gotten these leggins and heavy shoes off 
and donned a pair of pumps, we will be so light and happy that 
we will have to put some rocks in our pockets to keep from 
flitting up on the chandalier or out the windows. Then if the 
old Nutmeg State gives us a few months' pay like we hear some 
states are doing, here's one guy that's going to invest it in a big 
orchard and raise nothing but "pomme de terre frutes". Come 
out and see me. 

"Fini", 

DICK BARLOW, 

Secretary and Treasurer Foreign Chapter 

Bridgeport Comfort Club. 

Row de dow, have the mess sergeant add three carrots to 
the soup, here's Oppenheimer, Best, Etheridge, Turner and Pill 
back to our company. 

55 



Through the long and dreary days 
At Liffol 

And the days of Parlez-vous 

Chemin des Dames 
Seicheprey, Xivray, Apremont 

Northwest of Toul. 
The Red, Red days of Hell 

On the Marne 
At Saint Mihiel and the Woivre 
To the finish "On les aura!" 

At Verdun. 
Just to know someone was with us 
Was "for" us all the time 
Helped a lot! 
Not one of us forgets it 

And no one ever will. 

And so 

We thank you most sincerely 
Comfort Club! 

Rad — A. E. F. 



56 



